


Love Doesn't Stand A Chance

by foryoureyesonly1



Category: One Piece
Genre: ASL, ASL Brothers, AU, Ace is a player, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Ace, Buggy is a publisher lol, Fear of Abandonment, Fluff and Angst, Gay Sabo, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Lost Roronoa Zoro, Luffy Being Luffy, M/M, Mangaka Sabo, Photographer Luffy, Possibly Unrequited Love, Sabo sadness, Security Ace, Stelly being an asshole but not really, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2020-04-08 05:41:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 50,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19100839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foryoureyesonly1/pseuds/foryoureyesonly1
Summary: An old cop raises three boys; his grandson, a violent street orphan and a runaway from a wealthy family. Unfortunately, he is only able to turn one of them into a Marine, but he is still proud of all three as they are following their own path. In fact, as he closes his eyes for the last time, he is content with his lot.As the eldest, Ace has a steady job to provide for his brothers, but that family alone has never been enough to quell his fear of abandonment. He never gets attached in relationships, he flirts, sleeps with all kinds of men and women. He actively shuns the idea of falling in love.Sabo, the middle brother, focuses on taking care of his brothers, doing all the household chores. He's had a lot of practice hiding his feelings from Ace, betraying no emotions for years. But when it all becomes too much and his heart can't take it anymore, he does what he does best. He runs away.Luffy, the youngest, is a carefree soul who loves travelling. He worries about his brother returning to the home he loathes, but can't intervene since it's Sabo's choice.That is, until they receive an invitation to Sabo's wedding.





	1. Don't Hurt Yourself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ace is 21, Sabo is 20 and Luffy is 18 when they lose their grandfather. Sabo suppresses his pain in order to take care of his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * * *
> 
> _Italics = Character's memories_   
> _**Bold + Italics = Sabo's stories.**_
> 
> * * *
> 
> Time can bring you down, time can bend your knees  
> Time can break your heart, have you begging please, begging please  
> Beyond the door there's peace I'm sure  
> And I know there'll be no more tears in heaven
> 
> -Eric Clapton (Tears In Heaven)

As soon as Sabo is done with the paperwork, he and Koala leave the morgue. He came straight here, because he needed to get this stuff out of the way so he can focus on taking care of his brothers.

"Sabo, I can pull over, and you can let your feelings out before you get home. I know after that you'll only be worried about your brothers-" Koala says watching him from the front seat of the car as she drives him home.

"I'm fine, just drive, we're almost there." He mumbles. 

"Sabo, your grandfather just died, and you haven't shed a single tear. I'm worried." She says frowning. 

He looks up at her, and forces a smile, "I can't fall apart. I'm Ace and Luffy's anchor. They need me whole."

He has to keep it together. First he'll find Luffy, he will probably be crying his eyes out and will jump into his arms as soon as he sees him. He will comfort Luffy until the boy falls asleep in his arms.

But Ace is different. He will probably cut himself off from everyone, but not wanting to leave Luffy alone, so he will still be at home. His fear of being left behind makes him vulnerable, so he will probably want to numb it with alcohol. That could either make him more violent or just more emotional. Either way, Ace needs more attention, and he will probably have to stay with him all night. 

Koala looks at her friend and sighs, wondering if he will even allow himself to grieve. She pulls up to the driveway and Sabo is out of there the minute she brakes. 

He opens the door and goes inside. Robin greets him, looking relieved that he is here. He is grateful to her, knowing she's been looking after Luffy for him.

"How are they?" He asks, leaning into the sympathetic hug she gives him.

"Ace locked himself in his room, he won't come out. He hasn't eaten all day. Luffy is in the living room, he won't stop crying. I don't know what to do." Robin laments. Sabo is thankful for her presence, he knows that she cares a lot about them.

"Thank you." He says walking up to the living room. A few of Luffy's friends are there with him, Zoro and Usopp are sitting on either side of him.

Luffy looks up, his eyes red and swollen, tears falling down his cheeks.

"Sabo!" He cries, and Zoro and Usopp stand up, leaving room for Sabo to move in next to him. Luffy throws himself into his brother's arms, his crying intensifying. 

It physically hurts Sabo to see Luffy like this. This ball of sunshine who smiles all the time, seeing him like this, makes Sabo wish that he could take away his pain. Take all of it upon himself. Luffy was with Garp the longest, so it makes sense that he is so distraught.

Sabo holds the sobbing boy in his arms, and looks around. "You can go, I'll take care of him." He says to Luffy's friends. Nami and Robin hesitate. "Get some rest. You can come see him in the morning. That's okay, right?" He glances at the boy crying into his chest. He nods.

They walk out the door. "Did you eat?" Sabo asks.

"Yeah, Dadan came by and made some food. She left some in the fridge too, but Ace didn't.." Luffy sniffs.

"Don't worry about Ace, he's going to be fine, okay?" Sabo assures him. He is glad for Dadan, even though she's not their babysitter anymore, she still cares so much.

Luffy is still sobbing, but his breathing is steadier.

"I was thinking, how about we use the picture of Gramps that you took for Morgans Competition in the funeral procession?" He says gently.

Luffy looks up. "Really? You think he'd like it?"

Sabo gives him a reassuring smile. "Of course. He loved that picture, he even framed it. He told me and Ace that he felt like a celebrity in a professional photo shoot when you took it."

"Grandpa said that?" Luffy said burying his face in Sabo's chest again, and he can feel the tears soaking his shirt.

"Yeah. He was very proud of you. So, can we use it?"

Luffy tries to say something, but all that comes out is "Hmm." But he is nodding, so Sabo takes that as a yes.

It doesn't take long for the boy to fall asleep after that. Sabo wipes the tears from his face because he doesn't want them to dry out. As he picks Luffy up to take him to his bedroom, he notices for the first time that Zoro is still there.

He looks up at his brother's best friend who has been leaning over the doorway to the kitchen. 

"I'm not leaving." Zoro says defensively.

Sabo sighs. Luffy always sleeps easier if Sabo is there, unfortunately, tonight, he is sure that Ace needs him more. Sabo knows that he can't just force Zoro to leave, after all they are the same age. He doesn't want Luffy to be alone all night, so he gestures for Zoro to follow him.

Once inside the room that he and Luffy have shared for years, not for lack of space but because Luffy could only sleep well if Sabo was there, he puts the boy down gently on the bed, and covers him with a blanket.

"Stay with him all night. If he wakes up at all, call me. I'll be with Ace." He instructs Zoro and the green haired boy nods. 

First, Sabo goes to the kitchen and reheats the fried rice that Dadan left behind. He carries the plate to Ace's room, and knocks.

The house has quieted down, so Ace knows that Luffy's friends have left, which means that Sabo is here. The beer is tasteless, like all the others before it. For some reason, Ace can't seem to feel anything. In times like this, he really wants to hit something.

Shit, why did that old man have to leave?

He hears the knock on his door, but doesn't move. His room is a mess since he's been kicking things around all day, and there are beer bottles all over the floor. He knows how much of a neat freak Sabo is, and is sure to be put off by the state of the room.

"Go away." He says.

"I brought you food, you have to eat, Ace." Sabo replies. 

"Just leave me alone, I'm not hungry." He tells him.

"I'll stay here until you open the door."

Ace curses, he knows that his little brother will do it. No matter how cold it is out there. Sabo just loves hurting himself if he thinks it will make others feel better.

Ace stands up and opens the door. Sabo looks around, but doesn't comment on the state of the room. He places the plate on top of the desk.

"Eat." He orders.

"I'm not -"

"I'm not leaving until you eat." Sabo says.

Ace grudgingly sits down on the chair, aware that he is being watched and starts eating.

"Go to Luffy. He won't be able to sleep without you. I'm fine." Ace mumbles.

"I already put him to sleep. Zoro's with him."

Ace only grunts in response.

Ace looks worse than Sabo had anticipated.

Judging by the state of the room, he can guess that the alcohol was not enough to make him sleep, and it seems Ace has resorted to destroying his room instead. Sabo sighs, and grabs the small bin at Ace's door, opens the window and starts picking up the bottles from the floor.

Sabo makes the bed, just as Ace finishes eating. He is satisfied for now.

"Will you stop cleaning? You're not my mother!" He shouts at Sabo.

Sabo lets him. If Ace wants to vent, then fine. But Ace doesn't say anything else, and when Sabo turns to him, he sees him shaking. Ace is holding his military tags in his hand, a faraway look in his eyes.

"Do you remember? Almost three years ago, you had just gotten your scholarship to university, and I'd just barely passed high school for the second time round in your year. The old man was pissed that I hadn't applied to any universities." Ace says quietly. He can feel that Sabo is coming closer.

"I do. Then you showed him your enlistment letter. I have never seen him so proud, so happy in my life." Sabo says standing right behind him. "He worried a lot about you, all that pent up anger, he just wanted you to channel it in a clean way." 

Ace grabs his military tags tightly in his hand, the urge to hit something, to scream coming over him.

"He wasn't supposed to leave." Ace whispers.

_Eleven years ago, when he was ten, Ace lived on the streets, stealing to survive. One day, he swiped the wallet of some old man, not knowing that he was a detective. The old man caught him, and try as hard as he might, he could not break free._

_The old man put him down, letting him leave, but outmatched as he was, Ace still wouldn't run._

_"Why are you still fighting, when you know you can't beat me?" Garp asked him._

_"I won't run and I won't hide! You can put me in juvie or whatever, but I'll never run from you!" He shouted swinging his pipe at the old man._

_Garp, laughed. "Bwahaha! What a brave kid! Hey, you're hungry, right? I know this place on the corner that has tasty hot dogs. I'll treat you, come on."_

_"Don't pity me, you old jerk." Ace screamed. Back then, he used to hide all his feelings behind violence. His stomach growled._

_"Bwahaha! You can't go into battle on an empty stomach!" He said. "I like your attitude kid, you'll make a great Marine!" Garp dragged Ace to the restaurant, and bought him food._

_Ace tried to protest, but his body betrayed him. He would take the pity for now._

_"Why don't you go to a shelter? I know a good one in-"_

_"No." Ace said at once._

_"Why not?" Garp wanted to know._

_Ace stood up. "Cause shelters are filled with nice people. Thanks for the food old man." He walked out._

_It wasn't the last he had seen of him, however. The old man passed by Ace's street after work from time to time, forcing him to eat with him or get a fist of love. Ace was wary at first, he hated getting attached to people. But with time, he found himself waiting for the old man, looking forward to hearing the stories about his days as a Marine._

_One day, after leaving the restaurant, Ace asked, "Old man, are you going to leave too?"_

_"Huh? Where would I go?" He asked._

_Ace turned away. "Nice people, always leave." Like his mother. Like the father who couldn't shoulder the responsibility of raising him alone, like Sister Moda from the orphanage. He shouldn't get attached to the old man._

_Garp looked at the boy. "Why don't you come with me, to my house?"_

_"What? I knew it, you're secretly a paedophile, aren't you?" Ace shouted._

_"Bwahaha! I just mean that if you live with me, then there's no way I can leave you behind, is there?"_

_Those words, that Ace held on to, making him falter, almost cut straight into his abandonment issues._

_Garp picked him up. "You and my grandson will get along so well!"_

In the end, he too had left. Dying from an illness, just like Ace's mother.

Ace wants to hit something, to stop himself from feeling anything else. He raises his fist to punch the desk, to break it to pieces. But a hand on his arm stops him.

"You'll wake Luffy." Sabo says.

He doesn't want to do that. But he still needs to release his frustration somehow. He digs his nails into his own skin, to feel something. 

"No, Ace." Sabo says. "If you want to hit something, hit me. I won't scream."

This bastard. "Why the hell would I hit you?!"

"If you can't, then just cry, Ace. Cry or hit me!" Sabo almost pleads, he just wants Ace to release the emotions. 

"Shut up!" Says Ace angrily, and punches him in the face.

Ace knows it must have hurt, but Sabo doesn't react. Ace swings his arm back again, he knows that Sabo will take the pain, he always takes every single burden upon himself. He can't let him do that, he can never hurt him... He is the big brother after all. He stops his arm midway and lands his fist on Sabo's chest.

"He said that he wouldn't leave." Ace says desperately as the tears start to fall. Sabo pulls him forward, and holds him closely. Ace allows himself to find comfort in his brother's arms.

Sabo does not want to see Ace broken. It would hurt him if Ace turns to violence again, like he did in high school. He has come so far, and he is glad that Ace has decided to cry instead.

There are not many people that Ace allows to see his tears. Sabo won't call it a privilege  but it is a relief for him that Ace lets him in, that he allows himself to be weak in front of Sabo.

"Sabo..." Ace whispers weakly from his chest. "Don't leave."

"Never." Sabo responds. "I will never leave you, Ace."

For Sabo, there is nowhere without Ace. Ace doesn't know it, but he is a beacon to Sabo, a light that he will always run to. As Sabo comforts the boy he loves all night, even after Ace falls asleep, he knows that there's nowhere he'd rather be.

***

Sabo tries to call the number again, but it's still not answered. He sighs and sits down for breakfast with his brothers. 

"Forget it, Sabo. He's a wanted criminal. It's not like can come to the funeral." Ace says.

"That's not the point, Ace. Dragon deserves to know that his father died." Sabo sighs, resorting to texting.

"Bullshit! He didn't once come to see the old man even though you told him that he was sick! He abandoned this family." Ace says.

"Actually, Dad did go to see Grandpa. Grandpa threatened to call the cops though so he left before I could talk to him." Luffy says finishing his breakfast.

Ace takes a drink of water. "Not like you'd have much to talk about though, is it? Hey dad, where have you been for the last...uh...eighteen years?"

"Ace." Sabo warns.

Luffy smiles. "Dad isn't so bad. He used to be a spy and everything."

"Yeah, until he posted all of the government's secrets on the internet." Ace grumbles. "Now he's been on the run for years, so don't expect him to come to the funeral."

"It's fine, I don't really care either way." Luffy says. "But Sabo, I didn't know you had his number?"

Sabo stiffens. "Ah, he gave it to me the last time he..." He can feel Ace staring daggers at him. "Anyway, I have to go meet with the funeral director. Make sure everything goes well." He stands up to leave.

Sabo takes care of the funeral arrangements. He doesn't know why, but the urge to stay busy, to make sure that his gramps gets a proper send off, is all that's driving him. Dadan comes over to cook and clean the house even though Sabo keep saying he can take care of it.

The funeral itself is a blur. All that Sabo remembers is a few things. People offering their condolences. Holding Luffy as he cries when they cremate the body. Tsuru saying some nice words about the old man. Gramps' friends, Sabo's friends, Ace's friends, Luffy's friends giving them encouraging words.

Throughout the entire event, Sabo does not cry. He can not allow himself to be unstable while Luffy clearly needs him. He has to keep himself together. 

Towards the end, Sabo notices a man in a dark green hood leaving discreetly. He hands Luffy over to Robin and follows the man outside.

"Dragon." He says. The man stops.

"Hello, Sabo."

"I didn't think you'd come. This is really dangerous for you, isn't it? I'm sure there are government agents here, waiting for you." Sabo says, worried.

"I didn't really want to fail my father even in death." He sighs. "I wanted to see Luffy too."

Sabo runs up to him, giving the man a hug. Dragon is shocked, but then he smiles.

"Luffy will be fine." Sabo says.

"I know. He has you." Dragon ruffles the boy's hair. "You're a good kid Sabo. You should take care of yourself too." He turns away.

"Sabo, why did you-" Ace's voice says from behind Sabo. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Leaving." Dragon puts his hood up.

"You're not even going to talk to Luffy?" Ace asks.

"He doesn't need me." Dragon says, walking away.

Ace snorts. "Whatever makes you sleep at night."

"Ace. Come on." Sabo sighs watching the man's back.

"Let's go back in." Ace orders and Sabo follows him.

***

A few days after the funeral, Koala has been calling consistently,  asking him if he's okay. Sabo notices that Ace has been sticking very close to him, watching him from the corner of his eye, even following him into his workroom.

He doesn't know what the fuss is about. Sure, he hasn't cried or anything, but for him, comforting his brothers is enough to comfort him too. They worry too much. He is fine.

The doorbell rings just as he is preparing lunch. 

"Package for Outlook Sabo?" The man says.

"That's me." Sabo says, signing for the box. He wonders who it is from as he opens it, but he knows, as soon as he sees that it is a picture.

It's a picture of Garp holding the fifth volume of  _Sora: Warrior of the Sea._

Sabo gulps.

It was taken while he was in the hospital, but he is smiling, a packet of rice crackers by his bedside. There is a note accompanying the framed photo.

**Dear Sabo**

**Five volumes, fifty chapters! That's my grandson for you. I still remember your face a little over a year ago when you found out that your manga was going to be serialised, I've never been prouder of you, kid.**

**Do you like the picture? I had Luffy take it for me. Hang it up in your workroom, I will be your muse. Thank me later.**

**\- Your Grandfather.**

Sabo feels like the room is spinning, for some reason his feet can not stay on the ground, it seems like he is going to fall.

"I got you." Ace's voice says catching him before he falls. "Looks like it finally hit you too, huh?"

"Ace." Sabo cries. "He...he's gone."

That damn picture. Gramps, smiling like that, eating rice crackers. It reminds him of the first time that he ever met the old man.

_Nine year old Sabo stood on the rail of the bridge, looking down at the water. It was a few weeks after Stelly gave him the burn scar on his face, a few weeks after Sabo ran from home. His parents hadn't looked for him._

_He wondered, if he jumped, would he be free? What could be found at the bottom of the river?_

_"Man, these are the best rice crackers I've ever tasted." The old man who had been watching him for a while, said leaning on the railing._

_Sabo did not say anything, was it better if someone saw him? Then maybe when his body was found, his parents would feel guilty._

_"Why are you still here?" Sabo asked._

_"So I can eat this in peace of course. If I took this home, my grandsons would finish it all. Bwahahaha!" Garp laughed._

_"I see, well, you might want to look away." Sabo sighed. "I'm leaving."_

_"Where do you want to go?" The old man asked._

_"I read a story that freedom can be found on the sea. I'm sure that this river flows into the sea too." Sabo told him._

_"Not like that, kid." He said. "You won't find freedom by throwing your life away."_

_"Then, what is freedom, and where can I find it?" Sabo asked._

_"That's something you're going to have to discover for yourself." He said._

_Sabo stared down at the water, he really wanted to jump, to know if it was painful to die, if it would cause them pain if he died. He wondered if anyone would even care that he was gone._

_"You really should try these rice crackers. They are amazing." Garp said holding out his hand. "I promise, they are worth coming down for."_

_Sabo looked at the man. No one had ever held out their hands to him, they only shut doors in his face._

_He hesitated, but in the end, he took that hand._

"I wouldn't even be here without him." Sabo cries. "To think that he showed so much kindness to a lost kid like me..."

His heart is hurting. He remembers the first time that Garp called him his grandson.

"Even though I was invisible to my family, he saw me, Ace. He...he..." Sabo is kneeling down on the floor, his face in his hands, and Ace crouches down in front of him.

"I get it. I get it, Sabo." Ace says uncovering his eyes. "Lean on me, just like I lean on you."

Sabo looks up at him, eyes filled with tears, lips trembling and his hands shaking.

"It's okay for you to fall apart, you don't have to hide your own pain just to heal ours. That's the same as hurting yourself." Ace gently tells him.

A whirlwind of all the pain that he has been locking inside of him, comes pouring out, he cries, shaking until he can not cry anymore. 

"Don't hurt yourself. Not for me, not for Luffy, not for anyone." Ace says holding him close.

"I miss him. Will we be okay, alone?" Sabo whispers.

"We will. We have each other. We'll be fine." Ace assures him.

Sabo feels the safety and warmth in Ace's arms. If Ace says it, then he believes it. He will believe anything that Ace tells him because he loves him more than anyone else in the world.

If Ace says they'll be fine, then they'll be fine. 

Ace, does not know what he's saying, but he is the oldest now. He got discharged from the marines a few months ago due to his narcolepsy getting worse. He has to find another job now, he doesn't want to rely on Sabo to take care of the family because of how self destructive his little brother can be when looking after others.

Ace wants to send Luffy to a good university to learn photography, he wants Sabo to be free to concentrate on his work and classes without the burden of supporting the family. Ace is their big brother, he wants to be responsible for them.

*** 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I killed Garp. I love him.


	2. You Know Me Best

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set three years after Garp's death.
> 
> Sabo ran away, Ace wants to know why. Luffy being Luffy. Zoro being Zoro and Sanji doing Sanji things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * * *
> 
>  _Italics = Character's memories_   
> _**Bold + Italics = Sabo's stories.**_
> 
> * * *
> 
> "And I remember, all those crazy things you said  
> You left them running through my head  
> You're always there, you're everywhere  
> But right now I wish you were here.."
> 
> -Avril Lavigne (Wish You Were Here)

Sabo left.

That bastard left even after promising Ace that he wouldn't leave. 

Ace knows why, but he doesn't really know why. He knows that Sabo left to get away from someone, the person that Sabo has loved for years, but he doesn't know who the jerk is.

The house feels empty without both Luffy and Sabo, and Ace detests being alone. However he does not like to bring his dates home because of the hassle of having to tell them to get lost in the morning. Sabo always took care of that for him. As a result, he is always wasting money on hotels or waking up early morning in some unknown house and leaving without saying goodbye.

He remembers how Sabo used to scold him for this.

_"You should go out and have some fun, Sabo. I'm sure there are plenty of boys out there who'd be happy to have you." Ace would say._

" _No thanks. I'm looking for love, Ace. Something to sweep me off my feet, to last a lifetime. Casual relationships bore me. You should really consider it too." He advised._

_"No thanks." Ace yawned. "Nobody stays forever, if they are gonna leave anyway, it is best not to get attached."_

_"I'm sure there is someone who will stay for you, Ace. You just have to find him...or her." Sabo said._

 But today will be different because Luffy is coming back. Ace is very happy today as he drives to the airport. He has not seen Luffy in months, the boy just can't seem to sit his ass down. It was a miracle that he had even managed to finish his year long photography course two years ago, but after that, he just wanted to travel and take pictures of interesting places.

This time he took a trip with Zoro to Japan where Zoro was doing some training with his sensei to prepare for the World Kendo Championship. It is still a year away and Ace finds Zoro's dedication to his training as admirable as it is insufferable. 

Still Luffy took all kinds of pictures in Japan, and he seemed really happy.

"AAAAAAAAAACE!" Is all the warning he gets before his little brother knocks the wind out of him in a violent hug.

"Oi, Luffy, are you trying to kill him or what?" Zoro says from behind him, dragging two suitcases. "Hi, Ace."

Ace is barely able to choke out a reply. Luffy finally lets go and Ace coughs. "Damn, I thought Zoro is the one who was doing some training, but you've gotten stronger too!" Ace gasps with a grin.

Luffy laughs happily. "Yeah, but I got bored and found a strange old man to teach me martial arts. Wanna arm wrestle?"

"Oh Yeah." Ace says and Zoro rolls his eyes as the two of them put their hands together on top of a table in the lobby of the airport.

Ace can feel that Luffy has definitely gotten stronger as his grip on his hand is strong. Luffy struggles to push Ace's hand down, but Ace easily wins, slamming Luffy's hand on the table.

"I told you you couldn't beat him." Zoro shakes his head.

"Ah! I was so close. I'll get you next time, Ace!" Luffy promises.

"Even if we did that fifty times, you would still lose fifty times!" Ace laughs as they make their way outside.

Once inside the car, Luffy starts talking about the adventures that he and Zoro had in Japan. 

"Hey, I learned a few Japanese words, Ace, wanna hear them? O-niku, meshi, takoyaki..." Luffy said excitedly. 

"It's all just food terms, isn't it?" Ace asks Zoro.

Zoro snorts "Yup."

"Hey, Ace, wanna hear about the time that we almost got arrested?" Luffy asks, Ace almost loses control of the car at this.

"You what?"

"Yeah, Zoro was driving and we ended up in the estate of an angry important Japanese politician guy who had us arrested for trespassing!" Luffy laughs.

Ace is sweating. "Why for shit's sake would you let Zoro drive?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Zoro scowls. 

"But when Zoro drives, we always end up at the most interesting places!" Luffy says.

"How the hell did you get out of it? You never asked me for money to pay any fines." Ace asks.

"Oh, Dad saved us." He says easily.

Ace brakes so quickly at the robot that the car skids. "You saw Dragon?"

"No, but he must have threatened the guy with something because he came and asked for us to be released, and apologised so much. He said that he didn't mean to anger members of the Dragon's Nest." Luffy smiles. "I don't even know how dad knew where we were! He's really cool isn't he?"

 Ace purses his lip.

Ace knows that he's projecting his issues with his father on Dragon. He knows that the man tries. It doesn't change the fact that he abandoned his son.

Back when he used to work for the government, Dragon would come home for a day or a few hours once, like, every one or two years. He would bring exotic food for Luffy and Luffy would beg him to teach him some cool spy moves. It was usually enough to excite Luffy for days and he would spend days trying to learn the move after Dragon left.

It surprised Ace, but for some reason, of the three of them, Sabo was closest to Dragon. The boy would listen intently to the man's description of the countries he visited, and for whatever reason, Sabo always wanted to know the political structures of the places. Perhaps that was why he was able to create such believable and well structured countries in his manga.

So Luffy would eat the food that his father brought, Sabo would stay at the man's feet all day, but Ace just...watched and listened. Dragon must have known about Ace's wariness of him, and so never pushed him to participate.

When Ace was fourteen, Sabo told them that Dragon was coming home for Christmas  (Garp muttered something about stupid sons who never spent time with their families) and he wanted to know what presents they wanted. Ace had said that he wasn't interested, Luffy said he wanted a telescope and Sabo wanted some stupid goggles. 

Dragon brought them what they wanted, and to Ace's surprise, he brought him a gift too. It was a stupid red beaded necklace. It was obviously too big for the fourteen year old, and he muttered something something about _not wearing jewellery like a fucking girl._

_"Oh, well, if you don't like it-"_

_"Shut up. You bought if for me, didn't you!"_ He snapped snatching the necklace away from Dragon.

Ace hates the fact that he still has that fucking necklace. He doesn't wear it much, to others it probably seems to be because he thinks the necklace is dumb, but Ace knows that it's because it is a precious gift to him, from a _father figure._

He has no idea when he even started thinking of Dragon like a father, but that one necklace is a lot more gifts than his own father ever gave him. 

After Dragon defected from the government, he was all over the news. At least the man had the sense not to expose his last name, preventing his only son from becoming a criminal's child. The only ones who knew his identity were the higher up government agents. 

Dragon came to visit even less after that, but Ace knows that he called Sabo all the damn time, asking about Luffy and shit. He started this stupid website of Hactivists, the Dragon's Nest, who just love exposing secrets of political figures and Sabo follows the website religiously. Not that Ace ever reads the stupid conspiracy theories himself. Never.

Dragon may not always be present, but Ace knows that the man is always watching them, especially after Garp's death. He is sure the man was there when Luffy had his first professional photo shoot, and Ace swears he saw Dragon in the crowd at Sabo's graduation. Ace even knows that he saw that green hood watching him, even when Luffy was overseas, even after Sabo left, when Ace was alone in the house. He hates that it makes him feel better that even though he's burdened with being the eldest, there's still a  _father figure_ watching over him.

Dragon is not a good father, in his entire 21 years, Luffy has spent less than 10 days with the man. He's a terrible father, but he is a better father than fucking Roger, and he is a better father than fucking Outlook III.

"Good for you, Luffy." Ace says snapping out of his thoughts and surprising the younger boy who expects him to say some snarky comment about his father.

Luffy smiles widely before changing the subject. "So when are we celebrating?"

"What?"

"Your promotion of course. We need to hang out with everyone, I've missed them so much! I already called Sanji, Nami and Usopp to hang out at the Barto Club tomorrow. I called Sabo too, but he said he's busy." Luffy chatters on.

So, Sabo is still answering Luffy's calls but ignoring Ace's? That really makes him mad.

***

When Luffy said he called everyone, he meant it. 

Their table is easily the loudest and liveliest in the club which is to be expected because they have the weirdest friends. 

Ace's best friend Law, is there too after somehow managing to peel himself away from the hospital. 

"It's always so loud when your brother's here." Law observes in amusement as Luffy tells the story of how he and Zoro got arrested to a chuckling Robin and an amused Franky.

"Yeah, the house is gonna be so insufferably noisy from now on." Ace sighs.

"Tch. You are so glad, you were going to die of lonliness." Law teases.

"Shut up. I was not." Ace lies.

"You were! And you've been so swamped at work since you ended that fling with Wiper." He says and then smirks. "I bet you're so grumpy because you haven't gotten some in a while."

Ace wants to hit him. "If I'm so grumpy, maybe you should be the one to cheer me up." He is only half joking.

Law bursts out laughing, "Yeah, like I would ever get in bed with you. I have no desire to get heartbroken."

Ace gives him a light shove and looks around. Usopp and Kaya have disappeared somewhere, Zoro is having a drinking competition with Jozu. Izou has disappeared to the dancefloor, and is currently doing the weidest dance Ace has ever seen.

Sanji is trying to flirt with Conis, well, looks like Ace has found his new target. Ace is always trying to steal any girl that may have any interest in Sanji. It's not like he hates the cook or anything, but Ace is sure that Sanji has got to be the person that Sabo is in love with.

He just fits the bill. All Ace could ever get from Sabo was that the person he loves:

1\. Is someone that Sabo has known for a long time.

2\. Is not the type to be in a stable relationship.

3\. Is someone that would never look at Sabo in a romantic way.

4\. And is someone that Sabo feels like he has no right to love.

Sanji just fits the bill. He comes from a wealthy background like Sabo and they knew each other since they were young and their parents were acquainted. Ace does not see Sanji ever settling down, he just does not seem like the type to be confined to one woman. He can understand why Sabo would think that Sanji could never see him romantically, after all, he only has eyes for the ladies. The fourth one is a little tricky, but he's sure that that's just Sabo's self esteem issues.

So, yes, Ace is sure that Sabo is in fact in love with Sanji.

"So, Conis, I heard you and Bellamy broke up, if you're looking for-" Ace starts, he really can't help it, it's been a while since he's been with anyone and Conis is looking stunning tonight.

"No way." Nami says coming between the two of them. "Between you and Sanji, I have lost so many friends, that I have created a new rule: No flirting with my friends!"

"Then, does that mean it's okay to flirt with you Nami-swaaan?" Sanji says joining their conversation only to be smacked in the head.

"What do you mean? How have I lost you any friends?" Ace asks.

"Really?" She asks. Ace sees the others around the table nodding with her. "Vivi won't hang out with us if you're there because you broke Pell's heart."

"He'll be fine, give him time." Ace says.

"Penguin almost quit working at the hospital because of you." Law adds.

"That didn't even last long!" Ace says defensively. 

"Baby 5 tried to kill you after you cheated on her." Conis says.

"It wasn't cheating, we weren't dating!" Ace tries.

"You almost caused Jonny and Yosaku to break up." Zoro reminds him.

"You dumped Paulie by text, super!"

"You-"

"Okay, I get it. Geez." Ace starts drinking.

"Oh, my, now there's a perfectly served main course." Sanji says standing up, looking towards the bar.

Ace looks at the direction that he was looking, and is impressed. A beautiful woman with long, wavy light green hair sits alone at the bar.

Sanji is delirious, "I should go and have a taste."

"Not if I get to her first." Ace jumps to his feet.

"You bastard, don't you dare!" Sanji says but Ace does dare. He races Sanji towards the woman. Ace wins by only an inch.

He grins smugly at Sanji's annoyed face. He really enjoys stealing girls from under him because he is sure that Sanji is the person that Sabo's in love with. At least this way, he'll be getting revenge for his heartbroken little brother.

It also doesn't hurt that the woman is gorgeous and her legs look amazing in that short skirt and those fishnets.

"Hey, you dropped this." Ace says standing next to her seat.

She looks up at him in surprise. "What?"

"Nothing. I just wanted an excuse to talk to you." He smirks. The woman laughs, amused. "Is this seat taken?"

"Nope. Go right ahead." She smiles finishing her daiquiri.

"Want me to get you a refill of that?" He asks.

She hesitates. "I was leaving, but, I can be convinced to stay a few minutes."

"I'm Ace." He says after getting her the drink.

"Monet." She says and hands him her card.

She works a secretary at Tontata Toy Factory.

"Fancy." He says. "So, I've never seen you here before. Do you come here often?"

"No." She says. "I've been going around a few clubs, searching for a place to have a function for my boss."

"Well, I love this place, and if you choose it, my firm can provide security for you as part of the package." Ace says. He gives her his card too. "This place is one of our clients. I work in private security."

She looks at the card and smiles. "You work as an executive of Whitebeard Security, and you call my job fancy?" She shakes her head. "Does this mean that I can hire you as my personal bodyguard, Mr Portgas?"

Ace grins and leans closer to her. "Well that depends. Which part of your _body_ do you want me to guard?"

Monet laughs. "Smooth. Real smooth."

"I got a few more good lines, wanna hear them?"

"No. I think I'm already sold." She smiles. Then she stands up. "Thanks for the drink. Unfortunately, I have to make my report tonight, but...you have my number."

Ace is a little disappointed, but she's clearly interested, so he will definitely call her.

He watches her leave, and then goes back to the table and fans himself with her card, just to fuel Sanji's anger.

"Hey Luffy. I thought that was you." Says a familiar voice as a red haired young man approaches their table.

"Hey Jaggy!" Luffy smiles. 

"Are the rest of us invisible, Kid?" Ace asks.

"Luffy's the nicest one of you lot. He is the only one in your family that's not a heartbreaker." Eustass Kid grins.

Eustass Kid is the only person that Sabo had a real relationship with, they dated for almost eight months, a record for Kid who didn't do serious relationships. Sabo broke the relationship up a few weeks before he ran away.

" _Touché."_ says Ace.

"So, Law, was Sabo discharged? He wasn't at the hospital today." Kid says.

Ace freezees. So does Luffy.

"Sabo is sick?" Luffy asks horrified. 

Ace starts to panic. Here he is, drinking merrily not knowing that his little brother's life might be in danger.

"Law, what is this? How could you not tell me if something was wrong with Sabo? I should go see him... Luffy come on...let's.." Ace somehow gets the word out. 

"Sabo asked me not to tell you. I'm his doctor so I had to listen to him. Relax, he just had a broken jaw, he seemed to have gotten into a fight." Law explains. 

Ace jumps up. "That's even worse! Who does he think he is getting into fights? Me? Luffy come on, let's go."

Luffy follows Ace out of the club, and they hear Kid's voice behind them.

"Wait. I actually wanted to talk to you two about something." Kid says.

"I'm not asking Sabo to take you back for you." Ace warns.

"That's not what I..." He takes a deep breath. "I already asked him and got rejected again. The problem is how." Kid explains. 

"What do you mean?" Luffy asks.

"Sabo is getting married." Kid says. Both Ace and Luffy are shocked.

Did Sabo finally get over his unrequited love? Has he finally found the true love that he has been searching for? Ace wonders. But then he remembers that Sabo never came out to his parents. As far as Ace knows, Sabo's parents are extremely conservative and they want Outlook heirs to carry on the business at Outlook Corporation. Suddenly, he has a pit in his stomach as Kid confirms his suspicions by showing him the invitation card.

**"You are cordially invited to witness the joining of:**

**OUTLOOK SABO**

**The first son of Mr and Mrs Outlook,**

**AND**

**SARIE NANTOKANETTE**

**The only daughter of Dr and Mrs Sarie,**

**In holy matrimony.**

**We invite you to share our happiness and celebrate the union and the beginning of their new lives. We would be obliged to get a favourable reply from your side and we would be expecting your presence in the wedding..."**

Ace throws down the invitation angrily.

"But Ace, Sabo doesn't like girls, does he?" Luffy asks quietly. 

"No. He doesn't." This is the final straw for Ace. Why does that boy always insist on hurting himself? Is he doing this to please his parents?

"Luffy, do you remember the arc where Sora's father took him back to his home? He went back to protect his siblings." Ace asks referring to Sabo's manga, _Sora Warrior of the Sea._

Luffy pipes up. "Of course I remember it, I remember every arc. Lucy and Axl broke into the house and kidnapped Sora, then the three of them ran away together."

Ace smiles at his youngest brother.

Luffy gets it. He jumps up in excitement. "We're gonna go kidnap Sabo!"

"That sounds illegal and fun. Can I help?" Kid asks. Ace looks over at his brother's ex-boyfriend.

"Luffy, go hail a cab, we'll go home first and plan the kidnapping." Ace says. Luffy skips away happily. "I need to ask you something."

Kid frowns and pulls out a cigarette. "What?" He asks leaning on the wall.

Ace takes a cigarette from Kid's pack too, and lights it with his lighter.

"I thought you quit." Kid says watching as Ace starts smoking.

"I did for a while, but without Sabo there to nag me, I fell back into the habit." Ace confesses.

"I see." 

"So, the reason that you and Sabo broke up...it was because of  _him_ wasn't it? The guy that Sabo is in love with?" Ace asks.

Kid exhales, the smoke polluting the air. "Yeah."

"Do you know who it is?" Ace asks.

Kid holds the cigarette in his hand and looks at Ace. "I have a pretty good idea."

Ace waits expectantly, but Kid doesn't offer up any information. "Who is it?"

"No offense, but I'm 100 percent sure that you are the last person Sabo wants to know." Kid tells him.

Ace looks at the cigarette in his hand, "Is it Sanji?" He asks.

Eustass Kid bursts out laughing. "Sanji? Is that what you think? I guess it could be him too...Sabo did say it was someone he shouldn't love. And Sanji gets around a lot too...that does seem to be Sabo's type if I'm right. Strong guys who can't keep it in their fucking pants." He sighes.

"Hey!" Ace says annoyed.

"It's true. You didn't like me at first because I used to be a lot like you, only into casual relationships, nothing serious. I had a bit of a violent streak too. I didn't give a shit about anything or anyone until a certain blond walked into my garage..." Kid grins and puts out the cigarette.

"It's not like he didn't tell me that he was in love with someone else. He's really hot and I figured he'd be a good time in bed, so I offered to help him forget. He was like, he'd never sleep with someone he had no feelings for...and made me take him on so many fucking dates! Me! Little did I know that I was the one who would end up catching feelings. Funny thing love is, right?" The man seems a little sad.

Ace looks up at the young mechanic. It is true that he was against the relationship, but only because he was afraid of Sabo getting hurt. When Ace first saw Kid, he was sure that he was in a gang and did not want that kind of influence on his brother. He knew that Sabo had only agreed to go out with the redhead because he was so damn persistent.

And yet with time, Sabo seemed happy, Kid would bring him flowers, looking nervous, and Sabo would blush like a schoolgirl. Ace grudgingly accepted their relationship because it made his brother happy. But for some reason, while Ace was spending a few months helping with the training in the newest Whitebeard Security branch in the next town, Sabo started spiralling again.

"I was actually rooting for you two, you know. I don't know what went wrong." Ace sighs.

"That's right, you were away... You know what he said when he was dumping me, even after I told him I loved him? Even after it took the entirety of my fucking courage to say it? He said.  _'I really do like you, Kid. But I love him.'_ I didn't even know I had a fucking heart until it broke." Kid looks up. "I can't even be angry at him because I know how guilty he feels about hurting me. After all that, Sabo couldn't draw well anymore...he had writer's block, that's probably why he gave Sora such a sad ending."

"Yeah. That's the thing that bothers me most too. Sabo loves drawing, how can one person take that from him?" Ace inhales the smoke angrily.

"I've changed my mind. You guys go get him. But will you be fine? The Outlook mansion is a fortress." Kid says after a moment.

"I've been in security for years. I can handle it." Ace drops the cigarette and steps on it.

***

This has been a crazy week for Sabo, but the last thing he expected was to see Ace's face looking into his window.

He almost has a heart attack.

Ace knocks on the window watching the shocked look on Sabo's face. "Open the window or Luffy's gonna fall!" Ace shouts.

In a trance, Sabo unlocks the window and lets Ace inside.

"SABO!" A voice from down below the window calls. Sabo looks down to see Luffy standing on top of his mother's 1 000 000 berry 'exotic' flowerbed. Apparently Ace had been standing on the younger boy's shoulders.

Luffy is there jumping around, no doubt crushing the stupid seeds that his mother planted delicately, with a big smile on his face,  and waving up at him excitedly. "WE CAME TO KIDNAP YOU!"

"Idiot! We can't kidnap him if he knows that's what we're trying to do! Go wait in the car!" Ace barks.

Luffy pouts, but then smiles again; "I miss you Sabo, come home! Don't get married to someone you don't like, that's not fun!" Luffy shouts again and runs off when Ace glares at him.

Sabo is surprised, not many people know about the upcoming wedding yet, only his parents, Stelly, Nantokanette's family and...

"Kid." He mutters under his breath.

"Yeah, that's right, he told us." Ace says with a frown. "This wedding is less than three months away, were you even going to invite us?"

"No." Sabo sits down on the massive bed, not facing Ace. In fact, since the man came in he did not look at his face.

He doesn't dare to.

Not after nearly a year of avoidance.

But he can tell, like he always did.

Ace grabs Sabo's arms, rolls up the sleeves of his shirt and checks his wrists. Sabo hears Ace exhale. "Thank goodness."

"I promised you that I wouldn't do that again." Sabo mumbles. He hates how his heart jumps at Ace's concern, hates how he loves the way that Ace is looking at him. He hates how glad he is to see Ace.

 "This isn't real, right?" Ace asks meaning the invitation. "Are you being forced into marriage?"

"No. She's pregnant." He says lamely. 

Ace's surprise is evident, "Yours?" He asks.

"Of course not." Sabo says.

Ace facepalms. "Why the hell are you marrying a woman who's carrying another man's child?!" Ace screams.

"It's complicated." Sabo turns away, but Ace grabs his face, turning him to face him. Sabo flinches as the pain in his jaw is rekindled.

"Shit. Sorry." Ace says.

"It's fine."

"Who did you fight with to break your jaw? I know you're not weak, so who did this to you?" Ace asks.

There is that concern again. Ace is worried about him. Sabo resists the urge to smile.

"Stelly hit me." He says honestly. "But I deserved it."

"What? First he gives you a burn scar on your face and now he breaks your jaw?" Ace looks livid now. "And you're justifying him again too! Like when I asked you about the burn!"

"Ace calm down. This time, I really did deserve it." Sabo says. "Kanette, the girl I'm marrying, is Stelly's girlfriend."

Ace is very confused now. He has no idea what Sabo could possibly be thinking. 

"Why?"

Sabo shrugs. "My parents want an heir, even from me. It's not like I can actually give them one. Kanette is convenient, she's already carrying an Outlook heir. I don't even have to do anything." 

Ace's confusion is overshadowed by his anger. "Is this the life that you want? Living the rest of your days married to a woman you don't love? How is it going to end? Will you jump off a bridge, Sabo?"

Sabo looks away. 

"This isn't the life you're meant to have! This isn't what you want! " Ace tells him.

"You have no fucking idea what I want!" Sabo shouts. "Not a fucking clue! I can't have what I want, that's why I left! I just need some space!"

Ace pauses. "Because of _him_ right? If you need space from him, why the hell don't you answer my calls, huh? You're fine talking to Luffy! This guy, is he more important to you than me? Than your family?"

Sabo almost says it.

But he doesn't. 

"If you knew who he was, what would you do?" Sabo asks.

"I'd beat the shit out of him for breaking my little brother's heart!"

Sabo wants to cry. He wants to laugh too. "He doesn't even know that he broke my heart."

"I don't care. He took away something that you love from you. I'll never forgive him for that!" Ace says. "It's his fault that you can't draw anymore isn't it?"

Sabo looks down.

"You created Axl, Sora and Lucy. You based them off of us. You love that story, Sabo! It's your dreams of freedom and the seas put on paper!" Ace says. "I remember when you would rush into my room in the middle of the night because you had just drawn a beautiful panel that you wanted me to see. I remember when you got the idea for a new arc and you would have this sparkle in your eye because you knew it was good! Where is that Sabo?"

Sabo can't say anything because, yes, he misses it. He misses drawing and without it, this past year has been empty. But everytime he tried to draw, all that came out was Ace's face, it overwhelmed him so much that he stopped drawing altogether because he couldn't draw anything else. 

"I know that Sora is based off you, and you were in a lot of pain when you decided to end _Sora: Warrior of the Sea,_ that's why you gave him and his siblings such a tragic ending. It was a good ending, I know you would never betray your fans like that, but it was an unsatisfactory ending. I know that's not the ending that you wanted for them, for us." Ace says. "Come back to us, Sabo."

And now Sabo is crying because it is insane how well this man knows him. In this world, no one knows him like Ace. It is amazing how much he can deduce even with such limited information. 

"You really know me best." Sabo wipes his tears. "But he is the reason why I was able to draw so well, I only stopped because I was confronted with the prospect of losing him...I lost a bit of myself too. The feelings overwhelm me, Ace."

"Then you should tell him." Ace says.

Sabo bites his lip, and Ace changes the subject to cheer him up.

"I got promoted. I'm the Training Supervisor now." Ace says. Sabo looks up, a smile on his face.

"Thats amazing Ace! You've only been working there for three years." Sabo says proudly. "Although, Teach can't be happy about that."

"Oh, he was livid! He looked like he wanted to create a black hole to swallow me." Ace laughs. "But you know how Marco is, he told him that Pops made his choice and it didn't matter how much longer Teach has been around, 'cause he's so lazy."

Sabo laughs too. "Marco doesn't mince his words, does he?"

"Nope." Ace says. He looks at him seriously. "Sabo, when are you coming home?"

 Sabo falters. He knew that the question was coming, but he can't go back now. Not yet. But the fact that Ace is here, Ace came to get him...he almost wants to drop everything and follow him. To say screw the pain, just being able to see Ace everyday will be enough to quell the heartbreak. 

But he can not leave now. He has someone, no two people, that he needs to protect. 

"I like it here." Sabo says.

"Bullshit! This place isn't your home! You belong with us! The old man didn't save your life for you to come back to the people he saved you from!" Ace shouts.

Sabo's eyes snap up. "Really? Using Gramps to blackmail me to come back?"

Ace crosses his arms defensively. "You know me, I use whatever means necessary to get what I want."

Sabo tries not to take that statement any other way. "I will come back, Ace. I promise. Just not yet."

Ace looks into his brother's eyes, and sighs. "Fine. But if you don't, I really will come back and kidnap you. And you better not get married, or I swear, I won't stop Kid from murdering your bride."

"Okay." Sabo laughs. He stands by the window. "Now, hurry up and leave. If Stelly or my parents see you, you'll be arrested for trespassing. That's not good for your job. Now go."

Ace gives him one last look, "Take care of yourself." He says before jumping down from the window. 

The moment he's gone, Sabo explodes. All the emotions, are rushing up to the surface. You'd think a year would clear up his feelings, but no, they didn't.

And shit, Ace looked good. Sabo could tell, even through his clothes that he has definitely gained some muscle mass. Hell, he would give anything to back home right now, Ace never wears a shirt around the house. And suddenly, Sabo finds himself blushing at the thought of seeing a shirtless Ace again.

He really needs to get this shit with Stelly sorted out quickly so he can go back home to Ace and Luffy.

And then a sudden urge possesses him, one he hasn't had in months, he grabs a pencil from his table, and pulls out a notepad.

***

A month passes after Ace and Luffy's attempted kidnapping. Sabo no longer ignores Ace's calls, and seems to sound more cheerful than he did when he saw him.

It is very early in the morning, 3:41 to be precise, when Ace is woken up by the violent shaking of his body. For a moment he wonders if the antidepressants that Law prescribed him for his narcolepsy are playing tricks on his mind.

Luffy is screaming, jumping up and down on his bed like a maniac. He is looking at something clearly exciting on his phone and Ace wonders if the kid has finally lost his mind.

"What the actual fuck, Luffy?" He snaps.

 Ace is very tired, he spent the night at Monet's apartment and then left while it was still dark because he really hates waking up in other people's houses with people he barely knows. This is the only time in his life that he wishes he had slept over at anyone's place.

"Ace look at this leaked image on manganews.com! This is the best news I've had all week!" Luffy screeches excitedly. 

Ace grits his teeth in frustration. He is just excited because of some stupid news of a manga he likes? "Luffy. I don't follow any of the manga that you read." He says.

The boy jumps down from the bed, "You follow this one."

Ace frowns, he really only ever shows interest in one...

"No way!" He grabs the phone from Luffy's hand and looks at it.

The picture was clearly taken with bad lighting, but he can see what it is. A pencil sketch of a girl wearing an all to familiar uniform, staring down at the sea, her hair is tied back, and judging from the way her body is more curvy, she is older. That doesn't matter because that is a character he knows well.

"This is...Lucy!" He exclaims.

"Yeah, doesn't she look awesome?" Luffy asks. "Oh man, she looks older too...everyone is freaking out saying there's gonna be a timeskip. This was leaked last night but already has over a million hits!"

Ace frowns. "Wait. This could just be fanart...don't get your hopes up Luffy."

"Come on Ace! There's only one person in the world who could have drawn this!" Luffy grins. "I've been calling Sabo all morning but he didn't answer, now it keeps saying that the phone is off."

"Well you probably killed his battery." Ace says looking at the leaked image.

Luffy is right, Sabo is the only person who could have drawn this. A smile creeps up on Ace's face. He really hopes that this means that Sabo is coming home soon.

***


	3. You're Still Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sabo's memories, delving into how Sora came to be. Warning, this chapter alternates rapidly between the past and story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * * *
> 
> _Italics = Character's memories_   
>  __  
>  **Bold + Italics = Sabo's stories.**   
> 
> 
> * * *
> 
> "Well, your mama kept you, but your daddy left you  
> And I shoulda done you just the same  
> But I came to love you, am I born to bleed?  
> Any old time you keep me waitin'  
> Waitin', waitin'.."
> 
> \- The Black Keys (Lonely Boy)

_Garp took Sabo to the police station and called his parents._

_"Oh, I didn't even notice the boy was gone." His father said. "He's an eyesore, so we were thinking of sending him away to boarding school, so his poor mother won't have to look at that horrid disfigurement he has. The police can keep him in custody until we find a suitable place to throw him."_

_"You bastard! How can you say that about your own son?" Garp was angry. "Do you have any idea where I found this child?"_

_"What does it matter? With a face like that, he can't marry into any rich companies. If he can not be of use to us, then why should we keep him?"_

_"Listen well, Mr. Outlook. I will take this boy and raise him myself, away from a family that seems to be good for one thing, only. Hurting him. You don't deserve to call yourself a father." Garp snapped._

_"Well, I suppose a police correctional facility will be good for him, perhaps to show him how inferior deformed people really are in our soci-" Outlook III started, but Garp hung up the phone._

_He turned to Sabo who was thoroughly enjoying his rice crackers on the chair next to his desk._

_"I'm sorry, kid." He said._

_"Why? Father is always like that. I'm used to it." Sabo said, then smiled. "It is actually the first time anyone has ever shouted at him because of me."_

_"No child should go through that much emotional abuse." Garp said gently._

_"Mr Garp, did you mean what you said, about looking after me?" He asked looking up at the old man._

_"Of course. But only if you want to stay with us, my grandsons are a little rowdy." He smiled._

_Sabo beamed. "I'll think about it."_

_It was late at night when Garp finally took him home. The house was small, with only two bedrooms and yet, for some reason, it felt warm and welcoming to Sabo._

_"Oh, Ace, you're still awake?" Garp said, and only then did Sabo notice the dark haired, freckled boy standing in the passageway._

_"I was just getting some water. You picked up another stray, old man?" Ace asked Garp on the day that he and Sabo the first time they met._

_"Now, be nice, Ace. He's been through a lot." Garp said. "He hasn't decided if he wants to stay with us."_

_Ace scowled, and Sabo hid behind Garp, watching the boy as he hopped off to his room._

_"Is he one of your grandsons?" Sabo asked._

_"Yeah." The old man laughed. "He is a little rough around the edges, but he's a good kid. Doesn't have any friends though."_

_"I see."_

_Garp scratched his head. "We only have two bedrooms, and Ace and Luffy share a bunk bed...for now, you can sleep in my-"_

_"Mr Garp, I'll be fine sleeping here, on the couch." Sabo assured him._

_And so Sabo slept on the couch and Garp gave him a blanket to keep warm._

_When he woke up the following morning, he felt like something was squeezing him tightly, and could hear heavy snoring close to his ear. Sabo was so shocked at the sight when he opened his eyes ._

_There was a small boy wrapped around him on that couch, snoring like he had no care in the world._

_For a moment, he wondered if he was dreaming, but this was real. He figured this must be Garp's other grandson. He poked the boy gently, trying to wake him._

_“That will never work. He's a heavy sleeper.” A woman said from the kitchen. “You should have kicked him out when he climbed on. He's holds on like a leech.”_

_“I...who are you?” Sabo asked._

_“Dadan. The woman who signed on to babysit one kid, and somehow ended up with two... three.” She sighed as she finished cleaning up the kitchen._

_Sabo accepted his fate and lay there until the smell of Dadan's scrambled eggs woke Luffy. He leapt off the couch and nearly burned his fingers trying to eat the eggs from the pan. This earned him some heavy shouting from Dadan who proceeded to pick him up and throw him back into the living room._

_“Food will be ready in a minute brat!” She shouted._

_The boy pouted and Ace came out of his room. He looked around._

_“You're still here.” He observed looking at Sabo. “And you, where did you sleep? I thought the old man couldn't stand your snoring.” He asked Luffy._

_“I slept here, with...Hey, hey what's your name?” Luffy asked._

_“I'm Sabo.”_

_“My name is Luffy! I'm gonna be first man to visit every single city in the world and have great adventures in all of them!” He said with a wide, carefree smile. So innocent, like Sabo had never seen before. This child was genuinely happy._

_Ace snorted “As if you can visit every city in the world! Do you know how many years that will take idiot?!”_

_Luffy's smile fell. “You'll see. I can do it and you will all look at me and be like wow, he really did it!” Sabo stared the boy for a moment and he actually believed that he could do it because of the determined look on the boy's face._

_“I'll take lots of pictures to prove it!” He added to Ace, arms crossed._

_Sabo smiled. “I'm sure you'll do it, you look like you're ready to take on the world.”_

_And Luffy beamed up at him with happy eyes._

_“Hey, Sabo, I like you, are you going to stay with us from now on? I'm so glad because I can't sleep in Ace’s bed, he always kicks me off the bed and then Grandpa says I'm too noisy when I'm sleeping. But I get cold when I sleep alone! Hey, hey, Sabo, if you're staying with us, will you share the bed with me?”_

_Luffy spoke without taking a break, and Sabo was at a loss for words._

_“Bwahaha! Don't pressure him kid. Oh, that smells delicious Dadan. You boys better fill your bellies, it's Saturday today, which means it's a training day for my future marines.” Garp said coming in for breakfast._

_Sabo didn't understand the alarmed look on the other two's faces or why they both rushed to eat as much as they could in haste._

_Of course, he was yet to get initiated into the old man's training regimen._

*** 

_Sora was created one cold winter night, Sabo and Luffy were sleeping in the bottom bunk, and Ace on the top one. There was a heavy storm, and Garp was stuck at work. The wind was loud against the windows, making it hard to fall asleep. Luffy seemed a little scared of the wind._

_“Turn off the lights! Stop whimpering, it's just wind!” Ace finally snapped._

_“But, I'm scared.” Luffy cried._

_“It's okay, Luffy, but if you wanna travel the world, you will have to travel by sea too. They get storms way worse than this.” Sabo told him._

_Luffy turned to him. “Have you ever been to sea, Sabo?”_

_“No, to be honest, it scares me a little too. But I once read a story that said freedom can be found on the sea.” He said._

_“Freedom?” Ace said breathlessly from above._

_“Tell us the story, Sabo. Come on.” Luffy begged._

_Sabo didn't know what to say because he couldn't remember where had read the story. He had read so many books is a child, but that one book he'd read somewhere had begun his curiosity on freedom._

_“I don't remember it very well.” He said, and Luffy sighed in disappointment. “But there is another good one. It's a story of a certain strong young man who….travels by see all over the world and...um... fights evil villains protecting villages around the world with his transforming robot and a pet seagull."_

_Luffy was hooked, and although he feigned ignorance, Sabo knew that Ace was listening too._

_“He has a robot?! And he fights bad guys and protects countries? Does that mean...does that mean he's…” Luffy could barely conceal his excitement now._

_“That's right. He's a hero.”_

_When Sabo was reading books, he would always imagine writing his own story, the hero had always been a more perfect version of himself._

_“What's his name? What adventures has he been on? What are his powers?” Luffy asked._

_“Yeah. What kind of villains does he fight?” Ace asked, and Sabo could not tell if he was just curious or mocking him._

_“His name is Sora...he can walk on water. And his robot also transforms into a giant sword.” He was making things up as he went. “As for villains, he fights against the evil army of Germa 66.”_

_“Germa 66?” Ace said sceptically._

_“That's right. That's because they have six great commanders. They go around colonising other nations.” Sabo said through gritted teeth._

_“What kind of powers do they have?” Luffy asked excitedly._

_“The six of them have made scientific progress...um...I think that's right and they have all kinds of stuff...oooh, their bodies are genetically modified.” Sabo said the ideas coming to him._

_“What does that mean?” Luffy asked._

_“It means….they are superhuman!” Sabo told him._

_And by now Sabo was sure Luffy's eyes were glowing with excitement. “Tell me, about Sora's adventures!”_

_Sabo yawned._

_“It's late. He'll tell you tomorrow night. Go to sleep, Luffy.” Ace ordered._

_Luffy sighed but decided to obey, and he snuggled up to Sabo, all fear of the storm forgotten, and fell asleep immediately._

_“Have you decided if you're going to stay with us?” Ace asked quietly._

_“I don't know.” Sabo said, even though he knew._

_“You better decide quickly.” He said. “Because Luffy gets attached easily.” Ace said nothing after that, and Sabo didn't know why but in that moment he was sure that it wasn't just Luffy who was getting attached. That was probably the first time that Sabo was able to see through Ace. It wouldn't be the last, of course, but was definitely the beginning of everything._

_The next day, Sabo drew a sketch of what Sora could possibly look like. That version was of course way different from his current look in Sora: Warrior of the Sea. Sabo was just a child back then and he was only doing it so he could give Luffy a visual of what the hero looked like._

_Luffy loved the drawings, he treasured them and every night for months, Sabo would have to make up a new story to share with Luffy, another adventure of Sora's fight against evil. Ace listened too, but he never commented. Back then his narcolepsy was mild and he only suffered from a little insomnia at night._

_It made Sabo happy that someone was able to appreciate his drawings, that someone wasn't ripping apart something had worked hard on._

_It wasn't long after he moved in that he first met Usopp. Usopp was Luffy's friend, and his father was a friend of Shanks, he worked on the cruise ship that Shanks was captain of. Luffy adored Shanks, he thought he was so cool because he and his crew travelled around the world. Luffy admired them, he basically wanted to be like them._

_Anyway, Luffy brought Usopp home after school, excited._

_“Sabo! Sabo!” He called. “Usopp says he knows a hero just as strong as Sora!”_

_Sabo smiled, and made the two boys lunch._

_“And what hero is this?” Sabo asked._

_Usopp showed him a drawing that he had made. It was a little messy, drawn with crayons and the distinct features were a long nose and long tied back hair. All in all, the drawing was actually okay._

_“Hey, you're not bad at drawing.” He observed._

_“Of course! The great Usopp has sold over 10 000 paintings to galleries all over the world.” Usopp said. Luffy's eyes widened._

_“Really?” He asked. “So, what do you think Sabo? You think this hero is stronger than Sora?”_

_He looked at the drawing. “I recognise this person. He is...um..The Sniper Warrior: Sogeking!” Sabo said._

_Both children looked up in anticipation._

_“A sniper warrior?” Usopp asked._

_“That's right. He's an ally of Sora's.” He said.  “No one knows what his face really looks like because he wears a mask over it. In fact there was this one time, I haven't told you this story, but Sora was fighting against Germa and then Winch Green and Electric Blue had him cornered. It was a bad fight, 2 against one, and Sora was losing badly. He thought he was going to lose and tried fighting with his sword but every time he tried to attack Electric Blue was too fast and Winch Green would attack from behind. Sora was caught in a dire situation and then ...” Sabo narrated._

_“And then... and then, what happened?” Luffy jumped up._

_“And then a shot came from above, like a firebird star and it hit Winch Green. Behold, it was Sogeking, standing on the roof. When they realised that Sora had backup...they retreated…..” He said._

 ~

_Sabo had never intended to make a career from making manga, until one day, when he was eighteen, in his first year at university, he was majoring in Fine Arts, with literature as his minor. Weekly Flashy Comics held a national competition for a short manga chapter, the theme was: Villains._

_Sabo drew an actual manga chapter, based on Germa 66 taking over a small kingdom. He was really proud of it, and his professor encouraged him to enter the contest._

_But he couldn't do it._

_At the time, Ace was home looking ragged from his training in the marines, but he also seemed happy. He didn't tell Sabo, but he submitted a copy of the chapter for the contest under the name: One Piece._

_Naturally Sabo was stunned when he won third place in the contest, and even more so when they told him to submit a chapter to one of their editors as they wanted to see if his work could be serialised._

_He was crying when he called Ace, a week laer, who was tired from a hard day of work, thanking him for everything. He was so sure about it then._

_“Thank you Ace.” He cried._

_“I'm going to buy your story and I'm going to read it because you've wanted to write your whole life. This is your dream, and I'm going to support you all the way.” Ace said._

_Sabo really loved Ace._

 ***

_In the final version of Sora: Warrior of the Sea, Sabo based the three main characters on him and his brothers. Sabo had been worried that Luffy wouldn't like the character based on him to be a girl, but he loved her. The power system in his world was based on that people ate Devil Fruit which granted them powers but lost the ability to swim. Lucy had eaten a rubber fruit that made her a rubberperson and Axl had eaten a fruit that made his body fire. Sora did not have a Devil Fruit, but was a swordsman trained in Rokushiki, a secret martial arts technique. It was a complete revamp of the original story but he wasn't telling it to an eight year old boy anymore. It was a dark, Seinen story._

**_Sora was born a prince in the Goa Kingdom but his father was a tyrant who cared only for wealth and power not his people. As a result, pirates and all other kinds of bandits pillaged throughout the kingdom and destroyed the homes of the commoners. A civil war ensued, claiming many lives and leaving behind war orphans. Sora didn't want to live in a world like that so he ran away from home and found an orphanage deep in the woods for war orphans. He made friends with two children Axl and Lucy. He instantly bonded with them learning how the life of the peasants that his father is so widely despised lived._ **

**_As for Axl's backstory, he was a boy who was the son of the most violent pirate of the age and he resented himself and his father. He spent his entire life searching for the answer to whether it was worth it for him to be born. Although he was based off of Ace, he was a much rougher character way more violent and lacking too much restraint._ **

**_As for Lucy, her parents were the king's soldiers and they died in the war._ **

**_When the king found out that his son was living in some orphanage, he hired pirates to burn down the orphanage and bring his son back. Sora decided to go back to that place, to go back to the palace so that he could protect the place that had become his home, the place that he had met the two most important people in his life._ **

**_But the two of them came for him. Lucy and Axl broke into the palace and kidnapped him. Sora was grateful to them._ **

**_The three of them stole a bottle of sake from Sister Marka at the orphanage, and made a pact to become siblings._ **

**_As the three of them stood at the edge of a waterfall, looking at the sea, Sora made a proclamation: “I don't want anyone to live a terrible life of war like we do. I can't stand oppression, the weak being targeted because they cannot fight back. I want freedom, I'm going to change this world, set it free. Guys, let's set out to see, and join the Navy!”_ **

**_Axl came and stood at his right side. “Let's do it. I don't want my father's darkness to follow me. I won't end up in prison, cages scare me. I'm going to be different from him. I'll fight all the criminals, and defeat all of them. The world will know my name!”_ **

**_Lucy stood at Sora's left. “I suppose joining the Navy is a good stepping stone. I want to stop all wars, and I have to do it from the top. I'll claw my way up the Navy and then I'm going to become an Admiral, after that, I'll make my way up to the government and I will become elected, the first peasant to sit on the World Government throne.” She said, and took a deep breath. “I'M GOING TO BE THE QUEEN OF THE WORLD!”_ **

**_Both her brothers stared at her incredulously. What an impossible dream, but in a weird way it was just like her._ **

**_And so the three of them began training, for years. They each set off to sea when they turned sixteen._ **

**_Axl was reckless, but he got things done. He became the youngest Vice Admiral at the age of 20, taking down pirates, preventing Germa 66 from taking over many countries. Because Axl was more violent and brutal with his enemies than any other Navy officer, the commanders of Germa kept trying to recruit him to their side, but to no avail. He would not join up with a criminal dictatorship._ **

**_At sixteen, Sora also joined the Navy, but, when he was 17, he was recruited to join Cipher Pol, the secret intelligence organisation of the World Government. At the start of the main story, Sora is 19. Cipher Pol's main focus was stopping civil wars incited by the Revolutionary Army in countries affiliated with the World Government. Sora was perfect for this role coming from a country torn apart by a war between the king and rebels. He really believed that what he was doing was right. Performing counterintelligence, he rose through the ranks and became a Special Agent leading the division of Weapons Intelligence and Arms Control, cutting off access of the Revolutionary Army to any weaponry._ **

**_Lucy also joined the Navy at sixteen, and at the start of the main story, she is 17 and a Lieutenant._**

**_~_ **

_Sabo always drew inspiration from real life and added it to the story. When Gramps died, it was such a painful time for him, and he could not keep it out of his story. He gave a painful situation to the three siblings._

**_Germa 66 invaded and succeeded in taking over the Goa Kingdom. They took it over and destroyed everything outside of the High Town where nobles lived. The orphanage that the three siblings grew up in was obliterated, their friends, and loved ones were gone._**

**_Because he could, Sabo drew a horrific panel of Sister Marka who had treated the three of them well, giving them food and clothes and teaching them manners, getting electrocuted to death by Electric Blue while the rest of this comrades laughed as Sparking Red blew up the orphanage. It was a very intense and emotional scene when the three siblings discovered the truth, but there was nothing that they could do. Germa had set up a blockade around the entire island, no ships or submarines from the government could pass through._ **

**_It changed all three of them. They strived to work harder to be able to recover their hometown. But even if they did, it wouldn't be the same. The life that they lived there was gone, they lost so much._ **

**_Lucy withdrew and concentrated on training to be stronger, so she could be promoted to a position in the Navy that could make a difference._ **

**_Axl became more violent, on any assignments, he stopped taking any Germa 66 soldiers alive. He killed them all._ **

**_Sora doubled down his frustrations on trying to track down the leader of the Revolutionary Army, as the reason Germa 66 had decided to occupy Goa Kingdom in the first place was because one of their colonies had been conquered by the Revolutionary Army._ **

 

_Luffy cried for days after reading it, and Ace was mad at Sabo because he made Luffy cry again. Sabo was sure Ace cried too, but he didn't do it in front of him. It was very difficult for Usopp to complete his job as the assistant because he kept crying while trying to do the touch ups, almost damaging the pages and Sabo and decided to just do it himself._

_In the final arc of Sora: Warrior of the Sea , when Sabo was dating Kid, he decided to introduce a future love interest for Sora. Her name was Wallaby, and she was based off Koala. Koala squealed and enlarged the panel where Wallaby was introduced and to this day, it still hangs in her room._

**_Sora met a young woman at the World Government Military Centre, she was beautiful, and she worked with him while he investigated how the Revolutionary Army was able to obtain weapons made by the World Government. They got along really well. In the end, he discovered that Wallaby, was a member of the Revolutionary Army. She was working undercover, letting them know of weapons shipments that they could hijack. By right he should have killed her. That was the order of Cipher Pol._**

**_“Special Agent Sora, you are a good person, but you're working for the wrong side.” Wallaby said._ **

**_“No, you're the one who is misguided. The Revolutionary Army thinks they can save the world by starting wars? By putting innocent people in danger?” Sora asked._ **

**_“Come with me, and I will show you the truth about the Great King of the world.”_ **

**_“What could you possibly know about His Highness? Is your leader Lionel, attempting to assassinate him?” Sora asked her, his sword still against her throat. But even though she was his enemy, he still cared about her._ **

**_“They pretend that our government is a democracy, when in reality it is controlled by terrible people.” She said._ **

**_“You're really think you can fool me with a conspiracy like that?”_ **

**_“It's not a conspiracy. I can prove it to you.” she said and he had hesitated because it was her. If it had been anyone else, Sora would have killed them on the spot but because it was her, he listened and allowed her to lead him to the Celestial Cave of the King._ **

**_Still he followed this girl, and she showed him the truth about the Government that he was serving. Amongst many other revelations, he discovered:_ **

 

**_It wasn't a democracy at all._ **

 

 **_The only ones who were allowed to have power, to sit on the World throne, were those were deemed worthy by a secret society of Five Elders and they used people from countries not affiliated with the World Government as their slaves. There were many other horrible secrets and Sora's world came crashing down on him_ **.

_Sabo wrote this scene during the time when Ace was out of town working at a different branch of Whitebeard Security. Ace had gotten hurt at the time, a very minor injury, and Sabo had realised the truth about how it would be to lose Ace. He had been fooling himself while he and Kid where dating. Because he liked Kid, he figured that he could be able to get over Ace, and fall in love with him instead. But the truth hit him like a rock, and it suddenly became harder to draw, because Ace wasn't here to give him strength. And he decided to end the story in a tragedy, in case he completely lost his writing, just like his life._

 

**_When the Five Elders found out that Sora had been to the Celestial Cave of the King and found their secret, they sent the Fleet Admiral to kill him._ **

**_Sora sent a message to his brother and sister telling them to meet him at a certain location, so he could show them who they were really fighting for. He sent them an SOS. Unfortunately, Lucy received the message too late and she wasn't able to go but Axl, never one to refuse an urgent summons from his younger brother followed up on the message._ **

**_On the same day, when Sora was telling Axl the truth, the Fleet Admiral found him._  ** **_A fight ensued, and they shot down Sora's ship._ **

**_The Admiral then went after Axl, who got saved by Poison Pink of Germa 66, who had been following him._ **

**_The Government treated Sora's ‘death’ as a tragic murder of a loyal government agent and blamed it on his brother. Axl became a wanted man. Axl was distraught over the death of his brother and betrayal from the government to which he had given his life. Rather than spend his life in a cage, he chose to join Germa 66._ **

**_The series ended with Lucy shaking and crying at the news that her eldest brother had killed the other. She didn't believe it, she couldn't believe it, not without hearing his side of the story but she lost two brothers in one day._ **

**_The final panel was of Wallaby searching for Sora at the place where his ship was shot down. There was no indication of what really happened to Sora, that was how the comic ended._**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had too much fun writing Sora around One Piece


	4. You Are Not Our Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Outlook family shenanigans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * * *
> 
> _Italics = Character's memories_   
>  __  
>  **Bold + Italics = Sabo's stories.**   
> 
> 
> * * *

Sabo pays it no mind that his phone is dead when he wakes up, even though he is positive that he charged it last night. He plugs it in, and goes back to sleep again until Stelly nearly breaks down his door banging on it while angrily shouting.

"Turn your damn phone off, it wouldn't shut up the whole night!" He barks.

Sabo rubs his eyes, their walls aren't so thin that Stelly should be able to hear his phone ringing once or twice. But to Sabo's astonishment, when he unlocks the phone, he sees the notification. 

**136 MISSED CALLS**

**31 NEW TEXT MESSAGES**

He blinks in shock and checks them, it is the oddest assortment of people who have called him in the past twelve hours.

Luffy (56)

Hack (18)

Franky (17)

Usopp  (13)

Kid (9)

Law (7)

Bartolomeo  (7)

Koala (3)

Ace (2)

Zoro (2)

Robin (2)

Sanji (2)

Sabo doesn't understand, so he looks at the texts instead.

**Luffy:**

-Sabo it looks so cool.

-When is it coming out?

\- Is she a Vice Admiral now?

-Ok no spoilers

\- But it was you right?

-Sabo!!!

-Sabo wake up

-Answer the phone

-Sabo!!!!

**Hack:**

\- Why aren't you answering your phone? As your editor, you should have shown me first. Are we back in business?

-Buggy is flooding my cell right now, what do I tell him?

\- I'm guessing you're asleep. I'll come to your house tomorrow .

**Usopp:**

\- I'm so excited Sabo! Luffy's thrilled too. You're gonna hire me again right?

-Come on, I won't skip class, I promise.

-Okay, okay, you can give me half the pay.

-Come on Sabo, do I have a job or not?"

-Answer the phone!

**Ace:**

-I'm really proud of you. This means you're coming home soon, right?

-Please call Luffy. He's giving me a headache.

**Yasopp:**

\- Call Usopp, I'm too hungover to deal with this shit right now.

**Koala:**

\- I'm sorry, I did it for you, so don't be mad.

-Are you ghosting me?

**Shanks:**

-The party is at Rainbase tonight, the beers great! We're totally getting wasted.

-Oops sorry Sabo, wrong number.

\- You can totally come if you want though!

**Franky:**

-Bro, that piece looks super amazing! Send me the original. 

-Make sure to make a super cyborg villain this time too bro!

**Robin:**

-Hi Sabo. Please call Franky. I want to sleep.

**Nami:**

\- Don't forget that you owe me 80 000 berry. With 100% interest every month for the past year!

**Dragon:**

\- I'm glad you've found your way again kid. I was a little worried about you. Good luck.

**Law:**

-Send me spoilers, I've waited a whole year. You owe me.

This just raises more questions for him, but he is sure that it must have something to do with _Sora: Warrior of the Sea_. There aren't a lot of people who know that he's the artist of the manga because he uses a pen name, 'One Piece.' He searches  _Sora_ on the internet and is surprised to find the answer.

Someone leaked the pencil sketch of Lucy that he drew a month ago.

He frowns. The only people who have seen that drawing are him and Koala. That dork! She is the only one who knows that he has been drawing again and keeps trying to encourage him to contact his editor and negotiate a new contract for a sequel to the manga. But Sabo can never do it, he remembers how angry Mr Buggy, the President of Weekly Flashy Comics, was when Sabo told him he was ending Sora. He had to pay the breach of contract fee, but money wasn't really a problem for Sabo, his manga was moderately successful after all.

As he looks at the comments both from his fans and critics, it puts a smile on his face, he is suddenly less angry with Koala.

An idea that he'd had in his head had grown out of proportion, and become this big thing that had so many fans. Sabo remembers how the idea came to be, only a few days after he met Garp.

Another call from Luffy interrupts his thoughts, and he answers.

"SABO WHEN IS THE NEW CHAPTER COMING OUT?" Luffy threatens to blow out his eardrums.

"Shit, Luffy, it's early morning, at least let the man wake up first." Another voice says.

Sabo's heart jumps at hearing Ace's voice.

"It's okay, I know Luffy is Sora's biggest fan." Sabo says. "How are you guys?"

"Forget that! Lucy is wearing a Vice Admiral's uniform! Does that mean she's more badass now? How much time has passed? When will I see Lucy kick some ass? Has she unlocked any new gears?" Luffy says in one breath.

Lucy is Luffy's favourite character.

"Slow down, okay. I don't know if it will get published again at all. Don't get your hopes up." Sabo warns. "My story might not be good enough for Weekly Flashy Comics anymore."

"Bullshit." Ace says at once. "Your work is good and the only one who doubts it is you."

"That's right. Sabo's amazing!" Luffy says.

Sabo smiles, and the next words slip out before he has a chance to think.

"I'm coming home soon."

"Really? That's great Sabo! We can finally stop eating fast food every night!" Luffy shouts.

"You fed Luffy fast food every night?" Sabo quizzes.

"Hey, you're the only one of us that can cook." Ace points out. "And Daddan and Sanji took pity on us and made us food sometimes too."

Sabo feels guilty, he spoiled them and then left them on their own.

"Well, you won't have to worry about that soon." He says.

"I'm really glad you're coming back, Sabo." Ace replies.

And suddenly Sabo wants to leave right this second, to go to Ace.

It is incredible to Sabo how he was filled with the urge to draw again, after a year long slump, just by Ace's encouraging words. After he saw Ace a month ago, the story just up and created itself in his head and he put it all down on paper. He remembers going to the art store to buy a new drafting table, high quality papers, G-pens along with different pen nibs for inking, as well as brushes for filling and shading for the analogue drawings and digging out his drawing tablet for the digital edits.

Ace really is his muse.

After assuring Luffy that he will let him know if he hears anything from the publisher, Sabo ends the call and begins answering the texts.

He thinks about the entirety of the 142 chapter, 18 volume manga and how it related to his own life.

Even after talking to Luffy and Ace, Sabo's phone keeps ringing. He ignores Koala's calls for a while, making her suffer a little for being a nosy reporter and taking a photo of his work. But he knows that she did it for him, if it had been for herself, she would have probably taken more pictures and would have posted them on her news crew's website instead of manganews.com.

She begs for forgiveness, and he rolls his eyes accepting her apology.

A knock on his door makes Sabo end the call.

"Master Sabo? A Mr. Hack is here to see you." The maid says.

"Let him in." He tells her.

Sabo has not seen Hack in a long time, not since just after the final chapter was published. The older man has not changed much, he still wears that disdainful look on his face.

"Hack!" Sabo says. "It's been a while."

"Sabo." He says sternly. "Why didn't you tell me you were writing again?"

"I wasn't planning on publishing any of it. I just drew because I got a feel for it again." 

"If you really weren't planning on it, why did you leak that sketch? You wanted to gauge people's reaction to a sequel did you not?" Hack asked.

Sabo opens and closes his mouth. Though it wasn't his intention, he did check the comments and discussions on the drawing. There were a few sceptical responses, a lot of negative comments, but the general consensus was overwhelmingly positive. It makes Sabo excited.

"I know you don't do things in halves, so I'm sure you have a chapter or two ready. Show me." Hack says.

Sabo hesitates because it is true. "Actually, I wrote three chapters in the past month. It was a bit slow because I'm on my own, and Usopp is always the one who does the backgrounds really well...and I'm not sure if it turned out-"

"Show me." Hack demands.

Sabo takes out his tablet. He has finished scanning in the first two chapters and has been busy with doing digital touch ups of his background. He only recently finished inking the third chapter though.

"I actually have two different versions of the first chapter....the only difference is in the opening scene...well, you'll see." He says handing him the tablet.

As Hack looks through the chapter, Sabo observes his reaction.

"As you can see, version 1 opens with Lucy at Sora's grave, marking the three year anniversary to his death. Basically, she's talking about how hard everything has been since Axl joined Germa 66 and she had to hunt him down. Of course she doesn't believe that he killed Sora, but it's hard not to doubt him with all the destruction he is causing." Sabo explains. 

He is quite attached to the lines that Lucy says at the grave,  _ **"I lost both my brothers on that fateful day. I can't get Axl to tell me the truth and his violence is out of control now. You were the only one who could control him, Sora. I need to save him from himself because he is the only brother I have left."**_

"Version 2, however, begins with a fight between Lucy and Axl. It is a very intense fight scene, and dark too...setting the tone of this new story. I made it jarring to see Axl trying to burn the sister that he protected for many years into ashes." Sabo says.

In this sequence, Axl's eyes are drawn in the same way that Sabo draws the villains' eyes. He made him look deranged as he said,  _ **"You can't defeat me, Lucy, because you still see me as your brother! I am no longer Axl, I am Germa 66's number 5, Flaming Yellow! Sora kept me on a leash for years, forcing me to lock the darkness inside, even though he knew I hated cages. That's why I killed him, to set myself free."**_

And the next panel after that was of Lucy, attacking him, with tears in her eyes.

"So, which one do you think is the best?"

Hack finishes reading the chapter. "An emotional opening or an action opening?" He ponders it. "Why don't you do both? Start with Lucy at the grave, and while she talks to Sora's grave, show the fight in a flashback?"

Sabo smiles at how much he has missed this, Hack's constant advice on his work is always important to him. "I'll try that. The rest of the chapter is basically just talking about the rise in activity of both the Revolutionary Army and Germa 66 as they try to take countries from the World Government's control."

"So, no news of what happened to Sora in the first chapter?" Hack asks.

"No. I want this chapter to show the consequences of his absence, how broken his family really has become. His brother is now a notorious criminal and his sister is rising in the ranks of the very government that betrayed him. Both of them have lost a bit of themselves and focused only on amassing more strength, due to losing him." Sabo tells him.

"This is really good, Sabo. The chapter is amazing and I can tell you have a lot more you want to write about. Send this to me, I'll edit this chapter, and you can fix it before I present it to Buggy. But I'm sure he'll love it, and renew your contract." Hack says.

"I don't know. He was pretty mad when I breached the contract last time." Sabo says.

"He seemed pretty excited and pleased with the response from the leaked drawing though. I'm sure it will be fine." He says.

There is a knock on the door, and Stelly walks in, carrying some papers in a file.

"Oh, you're busy. I'll return later." He says.

Hack stands up. "There is no need. I was just leaving."

"So, you'll call me with feedback about the rest of the chapters right?" Sabo asks.

"Yes, and I'll discuss the possibility of a new contract with Buggy." He says and leaves.

"What's up?" Sabo asks Stelly.

Sabo is suddenly reminded of the last time he and Stelly were alone in this room, over a month ago.

 

_Stelly punched him on the face, hard. "If you even think about going through with this wedding, I will kill you." He said, his eyes dark and frightening._

_Sabo did not know that he actually loved Kanette so much. He put a hand over his jaw, he could taste blood. "You were just standing there, unmoving when her parents brought her here to confirm the father. Mother and father looked at me because they thought that I was the one more likely to get a girl they consider to be of a lower class pregnant out of wedlock than you." He flinched at the pain as he talked. "I only agreed that the child was mine because it looked like you weren't going to. You would have left that poor girl in the dust!"_

_"No, I would never do that!"_

_"We both know that father wouldn't accept her as your wife. It's fine for me because father considers me to be an even lower class citizen than her." Sabo told him. "You don't want to lose your job as VP of Outlook Corporation, so you abandon your responsibilities to your pregnant girlfriend."_

_"Shut up. You don't know anything. You have no idea how hard I've worked to stay mother and father's good son! Don't lecture me about ignoring my responsibilities when you're the one who left me to bear all the burdens that come with being an Outlook son." Stelly yelled. "I won't give up the position I've worked so hard to obtain, but I won't give up Kanette either!"_

_Sabo looked down. In the back of his mind, he's always felt sorry for leaving Stelly behind to carry all the burdens that he ran away from. He knew how cruel and hard it could be to try pleasing his parents, and he wished he could have saved his brother from it too._

_"How are you planning to have both?" He asked._

_"I have a plan that I've been working on. But it will take time, and there's no way in hell I'll let you marry my girlfriend."_

_"Fine." Sabo said. "But let me protect her until you are ready to do it yourself."_

_Stelly gave him a strange look. "Why would you do anything for me? I burned you! I gave you a mark that you can never shake off on your face." He says._

_"That was an accident, Stelly. I already forgave you for it."_

_"We were fighting! I threw boiling water on your face!" He reminded him._

_"I fell to the floor. You didn't mean to knock over the kettle." Sabo told him._

_Stelly turned away. "How can you be so sure that I didn't mean it? Even I'm not so sure at times."_

_Sabo smiled. "I just know it."_

_Stelly huffed. "Sorry about your jaw. I'll take you to the hospital."_

 

Now Stelly holds up the papers he is holding, reluctance etched all over his face. "I came to ask you for a favour."

Sabo is surprised. For someone with as much pride as Stelly to ask, it must be serious. "What is it?"

"I want to buy your shares." He says.

"What?"

"For Outlook Corporation. I told you that I had a plan to keep both my job and Kanette. I need only 5% shares left now. You have 7%, so, sell me some, on loan." He tells him. "I wasn't gonna ask, but I've run out of money, and no one will let me buy their shares on loan."

Right, the shares he was given as a child, he never really had any use for them.

"Since we're family members, I can just transfer the shares to you, can't I?" Sabo asks.

"For free?"

"Yeah. I've never really cared for the business myself." Sabo shrugs. "If you need the shares, I'll just sign the transfer paperwork for you."

"No. I mean, yes. I'm desperate right now, but after I'm done, I'll transfer them back, and then buy them properly from you." Stelly stares.

His pride is off the charts.

"Fine, whatever makes you comfortable." He shrugs.

"I'll have my lawyer email you everything." He says. Stelly starts walking out of the room. "Sabo, thank you for taking care of Kanette, but I'll be announcing the truth to mother and father soon."

"Will you really be okay if you go against father like that? Will Kanette be okay?" Sabo asks.

Stelly stands by the door, and hovers there. Sabo thinks there is a slight smile on his face. "This time I'm the one leaving. You've never worried about me before. Don't start now."

For some reason, Sabo is sure that those are parting words.

He finds out why at dinner the a week later. His father is absolutely livid, and can barely eat at all. Apparently, Stelly has been buying shares of the company discreetly for a while and he finally managed to get the 51% he needed for a hostile takeover. 

"The two of you are working together aren't you? That's why you lied about that peasent woman!" Sabo's father yells at him, "You sold him your shares, didn't you? You must have planned this together! The nerve you two have!" 

Sabo shrugs, he finds it amusing that the perfect boy his father raised betrayed him so badly, for a girl. "You were always going to pass down the company to him anyway  weren't you?"

"He humiliated me in front of the board, talking about forced retirement and how ever since he's been the Vice President of the company our sales have gone up! He legitimately thinks he can do a better job than me!" He shouts.

"I don't know, father. You're the one who made him this way, completely business minded, it makes sense that he would be better at it than you." Sabo points out.

"Sabo, do not talk to your father that way. The real bothersome thing is he did it for that inferior woman. Betraying his family for someone like her!" His mother says her nose turned up.

"What a crude and ungrateful child Stelly is!" Outlook III spits. "It's a good thing we had two of them. We'll just have to use Sabo and gain our way into politics. Yes, I am sure there are some good plastic surgeons who can get rid of that disgusting deformation on your face, make you worthy of marrying into a good family."

"Oh, honey, the Mayor's youngest daughter, Sharlia, is still unmarried. I'm sure you will like her...she is very pretty." His mother says.

Sabo is speechless for a second. They want him to marry into the family of Saint Charloss? Even though Dragon revealed him to be a human trafficker? The only reason that slimy bastard is stuck on house arrest instead of prison is because of his father's influence with the judges. It is a wonder that Saint Roswalt was not impeached when the scandal first came out.

"Yeah, no way. First of all, I don't want to and second, I am totally gay." Sabo says.

"What?" His mother asks in shock.

"Yeah, that means I like to be fucked by-"

"Young man. Watch your language, we are eating." Outlook III says sternly. "Your sexual preference is of no consequence to me. Since Stelly has turned out to be such a disappointment, you will have to marry Saint Sharlia, so I can make my way into the political scene and gain enough influence to take Outlook Corporation back."

Sabo gapes at him.

"That's right, Sabo." His mother smiles sweetly. "You just have to do what we require from you and you will live happily ever after."

"What gives you the right to decide the course of my life?" Sabo asks.

"We are your parents-"

"When I was a child, I did everything you wanted. I never missed a single piano lesson or etiquette lessons or business classes. I thought that it would make you two happy, but you kept wanting more from me when all I wanted was to be free. I just wanted to draw things that made me happy, but you ripped all my art, telling me it was a waste of time!" Sabo shouts. "When my grades slipped just a little, you threatened to disown me...and after I got burned, you wouldn't even look at me! I can't believe I almost took my own life because of selfish assholes like you!"

"Sit down, boy. How dare you insult your own parents like that?" Outlook III says angrily.

"Isn't it strange, father, that in my 23 years, a man that in whose company I've spent less than a month, is more of a father to me than you who raised me for ten years?" He asks. "Or that a strict, tough woman who shouts at me all the time is the person that I think of when I think of a mother? Dragon and Daddan care about me, they are my parents."

"Gramps found me, and gave me my life, love and a real family. My brothers are everything to me, but you two tore any bonds that Stelly and I could have ever had as brothers by constantly making us compete against each other. You turned him into a cold emotionless business robot, and that worked against you in the end. I'm glad that he found someone he loved enough to finally free himself from you. You are not our family." Sabo concludes. 

"If you really feel that way, why did you come back?"

"Because I was struggling with some issues, I hurt someone who loved me, so I figured, I needed to be hurt too and I wanted to see if it was possible for me to let go of my feelings for someone, and become less like myself so that I wouldn't lose him. I figured that the best place in the world for me to get hurt and lose pieces of myself everyday, was here." Sabo sighs. "That was a mistake on my part, but at least Stelly and I don't hate each other anymore, so it's fine. I'm leaving. This time, I'm never coming back."

"Come back here, you insolent child! How dare you speak to us like that? You dare-"

But Sabo can not register the man's words anymore, he is walking away. He goes into his room and puts his tablet and other drawing materials into his bag. That is all he needs. Clothes and everything else, are at home.

His real home.


	5. I Missed You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Home and Work. Reunions and happy ASL. Emotions and physicality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I've spent my whole life  
> Gettin' it all wrong  
> And I sure could use your help  
> 'Cause from now on  
> I want to be a good man  
> A do like I should man  
> I want to be the kind of man  
> The mirror likes to see..."
> 
> -Chris Young (The Man I Want To Be.)

Ace wakes up in Monet's house again. It is, as always, early morning because that is when his medication runs out.

He sits up and looks at the girl sleeping next to him. It has been a month since they got together, but nothing is different after all, she's just like everyone else and just like with everyone else Ace really can't stand waking up next to a stranger.

He gets into the shower and and wonders how long he is going to live his life like this, jumping from one person to the next. Monet is a beautiful girl, that is true. She's a hard worker too like him so they work a lot of the time and they mostly get to see each other during the weekends or also some nights during the weekdays when they have time. He finds het attractive, he definitely does but lately he feels like she's been holding on too tight.

He wouldn't call her clingy but well, he doesn't like it when people hold on because it just means that when they leave their absence will be felt. Acee prefers his relationships not to be like that. He doesn't want to feel anyone's absence when they're gone, he just wants company for a while so that he's not alone with his thoughts. So that he doesn't feel absolutely still, like there is nothing he wants.

If he has someone next to him then it's good, it means he's alive and he's not alone. Ace wonder if Monet is starting to fall in love with him. He can't have that. Maybe he just needs to get a little space in the next couple of days and stay away from her for a while. She's been nagging him to stay over longer, to stay for breakfast which is why he stopped inviting her to his house. He can't stand waking up at home and having a stranger there eating breakfast with him on his table. At least when Sabo was there, he always managed to get rid of Ace's night time guests so that they were gone by the time he woke up.

As soon as he's done with his shower, he takes out the other suit that Monet has insisted on keeping here just in case he sleeps over on a weekday. He was against it first but turns out it's pretty useful. Of course, this also means that she keeps some of her clothes in his bedroom at home. He doesn't say anything about it but he can feel himself getting tired of her, he can feel the end of the relationship coming. A month is a really long time for him, thinks as he makes himself a cup of coffee and then takes his morning medication before leaving for work.

He enters in the Whitebeard Security building early in the morning, and some of the other early employees greet him along the way.

He runs into Thatch who is leaving his office.

"Ace, you're early again today." Thatch yawns.

Thatch is the head of Security Dispatch, and he almost always works the night shift. He doesn't mind it though, in fact, he has adjusted his sleeping schedule accordingly and trying to talk to Thatch during the day is like poking a sleeping bear with a stick.

"I'm always early." Ace replies.

"How's the hiring process going?" Thatch asks lazily.

Ace shrugs. "Not well. None of the applicants look promising."

The older man laughs. "Well they can't all be as talented as you were when you applied. Enjoy your day I'm going to sleep." He waves and makes his way out.

Ace loves his job, he really does. It's a high paying job and it allows him to get everything that he needs. It is the kind of job that Ace would never have dreamed he could have back when he was just a street kid. The pay is so good that he was even been able to renovate his home like he always wanted. He'd thought about moving his brothers to a different suburb, but they couldn't leave the house that the old man raised them in, and he was happy with that. Instead, he had the house renovated with the money that he earned from his job.

He sits at his desk and his secretary brings him the applications from some of the hopefuls. Ace remembers what it was like when he first came here, fresh from the Marines with a recommendation letter from his supervising officer who, it turns out was an acquaintance of Pops.  
When Ace first interviewed to be a trainer at Whitebeard Security, they were impressed with his physical fitness and Ace suddenly regretted that he had resented the weekly runs and camping trips that Garp used to force them to go to.

He had worried if his condition, narcolepsy, which had been the thing that it caused him to finally get discharged from the military would influence this job.

Thatch had been a big help, and he was the first friend Ace had ever made here. He had put in a good word for him, and they told him that as long as he took his medication and did his job well it didn't matter to them.

It was strange having the sort of family for him at first, but he grew to love the people working here and made friends with them and a lot of the new recruits.

When he started out, Teach was his boss but in time Ace who was a hard worker moved up in his job and was finally on the same level with Teach; until he was promoted a few months ago. This which drove Teach over the edge, in the aftermath of which Teach had quit. Thatch had tried his best to convince him to come back since they were close friends but Teach insisted that he would only come back if they gave him Ace's job and Marco told him no way in hell.

As a result of Teach's selfishness, Ace's job is now harder.

***

Koala picks up Sabo from the Outlook mansion early in the morning.

"Why do I have to get a call from you in the middle of the night asking me to pick you up?" She shakes her head.

"Because my car is still at Kid's garage." Sabo says putting his stuff in her backseat.

"Well then, why didn't you ask him to come pick you up?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because he didn't secretly leak a page from my manga without my permission?" Sabo gives her a stern look as she starts driving.

"Are you still mad about that? Come on, it all worked out right? You're meeting with Hack and Mr Buggy to renew your contract tomorrow, aren't you?" Koala points out.

Sabo shakes his head, "Reporters are so hard to be friends with."

"I have no qualms about leaving you on the side of the road you know." She threatens. "By the way, you going home, does that mean you've decided what you're going to do about Ace?"

He stiffens. "I'm not going to do anything."

"Sabo."

"Look, Ace wants a brother that he can protect, someone who needs him. You know how he is with the people he dates, he keeps them at arm's length, never getting closer than necessary." Sabo says looking out the window. "The only reason that he and I are as close as we are is because his family are the only people that he allows in. So, I'll just remain his brother, that's the best option for both of us."

Koala sighs. "You can't just be his brother, Sabo, isn't that why you left in the first place? Because you couldn't handle your own emotions?"

"What do you want me to do?" Sabo balls his hands into fists. "Ace doesn't believe in love, I've seen it before, when someone starts to fall for him, Ace withdraws...he always ends the relationship and pushes them away. I would rather be his brother than be nothing at all to him."

"What if he does happen to fall in love with someone, and it's not you? Wouldn't the regret just kill you?" She asks gently.

He doesn't answer. Ace plays around a lot, that's why Sabo can handle it, because he knows that those people don't mean much to him anyway. But the thought of Ace finding someone he loves enough to get over his fear of abandonment, of Ace falling in love with someone who's not Sabo....it is scary to imagine. 

~

Koala drops him home mid morning. Because the house looks so different, he wonders if he somehow went to the wrong place. Still, it is the same house, just renovated. The outside has been repainted and, as he opens the door, Sabo wonders what he'll find inside.

There is some new furniture in the kitchen and living room, and the inside has also been renovated. Perhaps the biggest change of all is that the room that used to be Garp's bedroom has been turned into a gym.

Sabo always used to tell Ace that he should move into that room since it was the biggest, but Ace said he preferred his own room and would figure out what to do about that room at a later date.

Sabo's workroom, which he really couldn't call his bedroom had been turned into a proper office. He had never really slept in this room growing up because Luffy slept better when he was with him, and so he always used to sleep in Luffy's bedroom, and used this room as his art studio where he did all of his work.

He opens the door to Luffy's room and finds that the boy is still sleeping, and the room looks like it has not been cleaned in a while. Sabo sighs and gets to cleaning the whole house. He starts with the living room where he has to arrange Luffy's camera equipment on the corner and put the DVDs back in their cases. After that he does the bathrooms, and the corridor, before finally moving in to the kitchen.

He looks inside the cupboards and everything in there is either empty or expired. There are three eggs left, expiring next week, and half a loaf of bread. He uses this to make breakfast for Luffy. The smell of food of course brings Luffy running to the kitchen. 

His face shoots awake as he shouts, "SABO!" And knocks him down to the ground in a tackle hug.

It takes a while to untangle himself from Luffy, and the promise of breakfast definitely helps.

"By the way, you guys don't have much food here. What do you eat?" Sabo asks.

"Oh, we usually order pizza and stuff." Luffy says stuffing his face full of eggs.

"Well, I need to go shopping for some real food. It's time you guys had some a good nice home-cooked meal."

Luffy beams. "Yes, I'll come with you! Let's go shopping!" He says.

Luffy's shopping list has all kinds of meat.

"Not just meat." Sabo shakes his head. "I don't have my car. It is at Kid's garage."

"That's ok, we can use Grandpa's old car." Luffy suggests.

"Ace hasn't sold it?" Sabo asks in surprise.

"No, it's still there."

"Okay, let's go." Sabo says, and looks for the car keys. After that, the two brothers drive to the supermarket.

Luffy is his usual lively self as always as they pass through aisle after aisle in the supermarket as he talks about his adventures in the past year when Sabo wasn't here.

Luffy talks about how he really wants to go to France, he heard from Shanks that there are some beautiful places that he will want to take pictures of. He tells him about his trip to Japan with Zoro and how Zoro entered a martial arts competition there out of the blue and won it. Luffy tells Sabo about meeting a strange old man and training with him.

All this is typical of this kid and Sabo finds himself shaking his head, he's grateful that at least Luffy can take care of himself because he loves getting into dangerous situations. Thank goodness for Garp and his training all three of them to be strong enough to take care of themselves because he is sure that with all the trouble that Luffy talks about getting himself into, he would have been killed a long time ago if he couldn't fight.

Luffy keeps putting any form of meat that he sees in the store into their trolley, with the older boy shaking his head, taking them out. But Sabo lets some of Luffy's choices stay and he also buys vegetables and Luffy scrunches up his nose in disapproval. After he is sure that they got everything, they head yo the tills.

Luffy hands Sabo a credit card.

"Huh? I'm not gonna use your money, idiot." Sabo says.

"Oh, Ace gave this to me. You don't have a job either like me, I'm sure Ace would be mad if you use your own money." The boy replies.

"Yeah, but this is a lot of stuff. How much have you spent in the past month?" He asks him.

"It doesn't matter come on, let's use it. Ace pretends he's mad, but he likes it when I use this card. You know Ace likes it when we depend on him." Luffy insists shoving the card in Sabo's hand.

Luffy is good at noticing things about people and Sabo agrees with him. If Ace gave Luffy a credit card to use for his travels, then he definitely wants him to use it. Of course with someone like Luffy, he probably gets more than he bargained for. But still for Ace providing for his brothers is something that he takes a lot of pride in.

So he uses the credit card to buy everything and the two of them put everything into the trunk and start their way home.

"So, Sabo, are they going to start serialising Sora again?" Luffy asks.

"I don't know. I told you not to get your hopes up, I mean I might be getting a new contract soon, but I'm not sure how it's going to go."

But of course Luffy gets excited.

"I'm so happy. I want to see what happens next. Man, I thought that was the end of the story! It was such a sad ending. I'm so glad that you feel better and you can draw again."

At surface-level it may seem like Luffy is only excited at the prospect of the story continuing but Sabo knows that Luffy is excited that he's writing again.

"Yeah well, I have some pretty cool stuff planned so I think you're really going to enjoy it." He smiles.

"YAY!" Luffy says jumping up on the passenger seat.

Then Luffy turns, and looks at him seriously. "Since you're better now does that mean you won't be sad around Ace anymore?"

It's a wonder that Sabo is able to keep the car steady and not veer off course in his driving.

"What...what do you mean, Luffy?"

"Well I mean, that's why you left before, right? Ace notices it when you're sad around him. I'd really like it if you weren't sad anymore." Luffy says.

Luffy knows.

He doesn't say anything about it to Sabo, not often, and never directly. But Sabo is sure that Luffy knows how he feels about Ace, which is sad considering that Ace himself doesn't know.

Still, it's sweet of Luffy to worry about him. Sabo smiles at him. "You don't have to worry about it. I'm currently working on a solution."

Luffy observes him for a moment and then smiles too. "Alright! I bet Ace is gonna be so surprised when he sees that you're back." He says as they arrive home.

***

Work has been really stressful for Ace in the last couple of months. Teach resigned, bitter that Ace had been promoted instead of him...and it has not been easy finding a permanent replacement for him.

Ace is the Training Supervisor of Whitebeard Security, that means he is in charge of the Training regimen for all the recruits of the company in the whole country, not just the main branch here in Alabaster city. Unfortunately, this is the biggest branch in the country with the most workers, and Teach was the one in charge of training them. With him gone, Ace has to take on his duties as well unfortunately. 

Currently, he is in the middle of convincing Zoro who has been taking over the training for the past two weeks on a temporary position, to do one more week.

"No way. It's cutting into my sleep schedule." Zoro says adamantly signing for his paycheck.

"Come on! The guys like you better than Teach, and Marco watched your session the other day and was very impressed too. You're a hard worker." Ace tries.

Zoro yawns. "No thanks. If I keep doing this, you are thinking of asking me to take the job permanently, aren't you?"

Damn, Zoro is smarter than he looks. "What's wrong with that? You'll be able to work reasonable hours and get a shitload of money as well." Ace says.

"Yeah, but it's a pain. I only need the money to register for another martial arts competition. I don't want work cutting into my training time." He shrugs.

Ace thinks of a different bait. "If you agree to one more week, I'll let you use the gym that's reserved for executives only."

Zoro pipes up at that. "Fine. One more week." He relents before leaving.

Ace is relieved for now, all he has to worry about is how to convince him again next week. He hopes perhaps the gym will do the job for him. Finally done with work, Ace heads out.

 

It has been a long day and he decides to have a smoke before going home. He is so tired that he wants to crash into his bed as soon as he can but, he has to stop by the pharmacy for a refill of his medicine. He'd planned to buy some hot food on the way home, but he forgot and us too exhausted to go back, and just drives home after his pharmacy visit.

As Ace approaches the house, he wonders if Luffy ordered some good pizza or if they should maybe go out to eat, but he is really tired.

A beautiful aroma fills his nose, it smells like someone is cooking up something delicious, so it is definitely not Luffy. He parks his car quickly, wondering if Sanji finally got tired of Luffy begging him to come and cook for them and finally gave in. He hopes so, for a decent home cooked food for once.

Ace is speechless when he enters the kitchen as sees who exactly is inside there. He drops his briefcase on the floor and stares at the blond working away at the oven, who upon hearing the noise of his approach, turns to him.

Sabo smiles. "Welcome home, Ace." He says.

"You...here..." Ace's words fail him.

There is a flash of light that blind Ace's eyes as his picture is taken.

"See, see? I told you it would be more fun to surprise him." Luffy, who is sitting at the dining table with his camera, says.

Sabo laughs. "You were right." He heads over and looks past Luffy's shoulder. "That's a nice look on your face, Ace. You should look dumbfounded more often."

Even though Ace knows that he should scold them for teasing him, his face breaks into a smile. It has been over a year since Sabo stood in this kitchen, over a year since their whole family was together like this. It's been a while since he hasn't felt like a piece of him was missing.

"Well, look who decided to show his ugly mug." Ace smiles.

"You?" Sabo asks thoughtfully, and Ace throws his briefcase at him, but he catches it laughing. "Don't throw things in the kitchen, idiot."

What had started out as another boring day to Ace, is suddenly more lively and joyful, and the best day he's had in a while. He takes off his jacket and throws it over to the next chair as he watches Sabo continue with his cooking. Ace is really glad that his family is whole again.

Luffy is talking about the day, and Ace barely registers his words even as he hears them.

"Then we went shopping, and I chose all the best meats. Hey, Ace, we used the credit care you gave me! Were you surprised buy how much we spent?" Luffy asks.

His brother rolls his eyes. "Not really, I never check how much you use, I don't wanna get a heart attack, but I'm sure that since Sabo was with you, you didn't buy anything stupid."

The boy grins, and putting away his camera, he starts shaking Ace's shoulders. "It was a lot of fun! Next time, come with us, Ace and we'll have even more fun!"

"Sure, alright." Ace agrees if only to stop the shaking.

"Get off the table Luffy, and for goodness sake Ace, don't put your jacket on the chair, honestly." Sabo says coming over to them and picking up the offending jacket, to hang it on the coat rack.

Ace notices a frown on Sabo's face as he sniffs his jacket.

"What are you doing?" He asks.

"I should be asking you that! Are you smoking again?" Sabo asks sternly.

Luffy bursts out laughing. "I told you Sabo would be mad when he found out!" He says.

"Shut up." Ace barks. If he had known that Sabo would be here when he returned, he would have been more careful not to get caught, Sabo can be such a nag. "It's just a hobby."

"A hobby? Tell that to your lungs!" Sabo responds as he pulls out the pack of cigarettes from the jacket pocket. "I am confiscating these. What happened? You had quit the last time I was here."

The dark haired young man scowls. "If you cared so much, then you shouldn't have left."

Sabo falters slightly, but he is not one to lose an argument, not as headstrong as he is, especially not against Ace. He crosses his arms. "Well, I'm here now, and I'm just gonna have to get your nicotine addiction under control."

"Don't I get a say in this matter?" Ace barks. He has been thinking about quitting for a while, but he hadn't really found any motivation to do so, it wasn't easy the first time. So, yes, he thinks grudgingly, perhaps a little tough love from Sabo is exactly what he needs. Of course, he won't tell him that.

It's an intervention, so no you don't." Sabo walks over to the kitchen. "And sit your ass down Luffy, I'm bringing the food now!"

Luffy is restless as Sabo finishes dishing the spicy meatloaf dish as sets it on the table. He puts buttered sweet potatoes and a creamy broccoli salad as side dishes as well, while the last side is still getting done.

Of course, as soon as the food is set on the table, both Ace and Luffy immediately start fighting for it. There is enough for everyone of course but with three young men with large appetites, it is best to eat as much as you can, and quickly. Sabo is no stranger to the lack of table manners in this house, and unfortunately, he also has to fight for his food if he wants to eat. This is just the norm in a house where lives three boys raised by Garp.

Ace loves spicy food. The hotter it is, the better. As usual, Sabo's food doesn't disappoint. It is the right amount of spicy that Ace loves and he lets the taste burn his tounge. He grabs as much of the meatloaf as he can, going as far as pulling some out of Luffy's hands, which is no easy task at all. The sweet potatoes complement the taste of the meatloaf well, and Ace even eats the broccoli salad knowing that Sabo will force them to eat the vegetables anyway.

"Luffy, eat your veggies. Look, Ace and I finished ours." Sabo orders as Luffy finishes swallowing down an abnormally large amount of meatloaf, cleaning out the plate.

"But they don't have any meat in them!" The boy complains and Ace chuckles as he finishes his dinner, sure that Sabo is fighting a losing battle.

But Sabo smiles, and retrieves something from the oven. "I thought you might say that. How about this then?"

He places a plate with bacon wrapped asparagus in front Luffy.

Ace reaches out to take one, but Sabo slaps his hand away. "No. You literally took the meatloaf out of Luffy's mouth. Let him have this." Sabo tells him.

Luffy's mouth waters, as he munches on the food, barely taking a breath to talk. "Sabo, you're such a nicer older brother! This is why you are my favourite brother!" He says shoving another piece into his mouth.

"What did you say?!" Ace asks in annoyance.

"You're my favourite brother too, Luffy." Sabo just can't help himself from teasing Ace by ignoring him.

Ace cracks his knuckles and stands up. "With the old man gone, I see you two have been missing your weekly dose of the fist of love. Time for re education!" He says lunging towards Luffy who grabs his plate of food and runs outside.

"Sabo! Save me!" He laughs as he runs and eats at the same time, but Sabo is also running out of Ace's reach.

Ace chases them around on the lawn outside the house and almost lands a kick on Sabo who ducks but loses his balance and falls into Luffy, sending them both tumbling onto the ground. Ace doesn't miss the chance to attack while they are down leading to a wrestling match between all three of them as they roll around on the ground like they did when they were children.

About half an hour later, they are exhausted and can't fight anymore, do they just lie down on the lawn breathing heavily. Luffy falls asleep next to Sabo with a huge smile on his face.

"What is he so happy about? I'm the one who has to drag him inside to sleep." Sabo complains.

Ace snorts, "If you left him to sleep out here, he'd learn his lesson quickly. You are such a mom."

Sabo punches him on shoulder. "I am not! I have to live up to my reputation as his best brother."

"You flatter yourself too much. We both know he only said that because you bribed him with bacon." Ace laughs. Sabo tries for another punch, but Ace rolls away from him, smiling. "I'm glad you came back to your senses. I missed you."

"I was always gonna come back." Sabo stands up, thankful for the poor light of the moon hiding his red face from Ace. He picks up Luffy and carries him on his back. "Bring Luffy's plate when you come back in." He says as he heads inside.

 ***

After Ace takes his nightly tablets, he sits down wearily on the couch and stretches. His body feels stiff, but he is too tired to exercise right now. 

"Hey Sabo." He says once Sabo is done with the dishes. "Come here and massage my shoulders for me."

Sabo comes and stands behind him and crosses his arms. "And why would I do that? Are you telling me you can't afford to go to a proper place and get professionals to do it for you?"

"No, I want you." Ace pleads. "You're really good with your hands, so just do it!"

Sabo curses his poor choice of words internally.

He sighs. "Take off your shirt." He says and Ace complies.

Sabo remains standing behind him, behind the couch. This way he won't see anything that could cause a stir in his heart. He starts by applying a light pressure, moving in small circles along the sides of the neck, and down the shoulders. He places his palms on the shoulders and with his thumbs to gently pushes and pulls on the skin. Sabo frowns.

"So much tension. Are you sleeping well? Are you taking your meds?" He asks.

"Yeah. I rarely ever fall asleep in the middle of nowhere now. That's why I can drive now remember? I always take my meds." Ace tells him. It's true, he finds it annoying having to take antidepressants at night and stimulants during the day. However, he loves his job and doesn't want to mess it up, so he hangs on.

"Okay." Sabo says. "I'll release the tension for you."

He places his thumbs on the knot and his other fingers on the front of the shoulders. He begins to make circular kneading movements, exerting firm but gentle pressure to loosen the tension in the muscles. He gets into the tight spots with shoulder kneading, squeezing Ace's shoulders with alternating hands.

"Hmmm." Ace groans contentedly. 

It is an intoxicating sound, and if Sabo closes his eyes, he can imagine it to be something else. He wants to hear that sound again. He moves his fingertips in a circular kneading movement over the shoulder blades, alternating with the heel of his palm, which feels even better.

The feeling is relaxing, and Ace finds himself melting in Sabo's hands. Damn, he really knows what he is doing. "Shit, you're so goooood."

Sabo pushes and pulls his fingers slowly across Ace's back. Like always, Ace's body is hot, his body temperature has always been higher than normal. It burns Sabo's hands, and he can't stop touching him.

Ace can barely move as Sabo runs circles on Ace's back. He presses down and makes circular motions with his thumbs. Sabo presses down firmly as he slides his fingers across his neck. Ace lets out a self indulgent moan in the tranquillity of Sabo's touch.

Hearing this makes Sabo pale. Koala was right after all. He needs more, his body definitely knows it, and so does his heart. His stupid mind on the other hand, wants to pretend that everything's normal. He finally stops and steps back.

Ace falls onto the couch and groans in protest. He now lies face up on the couch, his face relaxed, looking at peace as he closes his eyes.

"You know, my hands are my livelihood. How will you compensate me if they get damaged by your thick skin?" Sabo asks sternly.

A ghost of a smile dances on Ace's lips as he opens his eyes. "And how would you like to be paid?" He asks resting his head on his hands. "I'm pretty good with my hands too."

Ace realises too late that he got caught up in the atmosphere and flirted with him. He braces himself for Sabo to punch him and tell him to quit screwing around, but it never comes. Instead, Sabo looks flushed and flustered.

Ace laughs and throws a cushion at him. "Dude, you really need to get laid."

At this Sabo catches the cushion and frowns at him, before smiling himself and leaning over the couch. "Are you offering?"

So this is how he gets back at him.

"Maybe." Ace won't back down either. "I do have a girl I wanna get rid of, I bet cheating would help."

"You're a jerk, you know that?"

Ace puts up an innocent face. "Who, me?" He gasps. But he barely has a warning before the cushion hits him on the face.

"Quit screwing around, asshole." Sabo says. "Go to sleep in your room, you'll catch a cold out here. I'm going to take a shower."

Alone in the bathroom, Sabo can finally breathe easy. He stands there and lets the cold water flow down his body in the hope that it will cool him down. It doesn't. This is entirely his fault. He should have refused to give Ace the damn massage in the first place.

He still can't shake the feeling of his fingers on Ace's body, he can still feel the lingering heat on his fingertips. It's only his first day back and already he is at his limit. He can barely control himself. 

After calming himself down in the bathroom, Sabo is annoyed to find Ace asleep in the living room.

"Idiot. I told you that you'd catch a cold out here." He mutters.

Sabo has half a mind to kick him awake, but Ace looks unperturbed in his slumber, eyes closed and breathing steadily. He is sprawled carelessly on the couch, one arm acting as a pillow and the other resting on his bare torso.

Before he can stop himself, Sabo rushes to his workroom, brings out his drawing board, a pencil and some brushes and he sits in front of the couch and begins to draw the sleeping man on his sketch pad. He feels an urgent need to capture this moment, to keep a piece of this Ace who seems oblivious to all the things that were worrying him earlier.

There was a time when seeing Ace like this was a rarity. Nights when he couldn't sleep and would fidget around in anger or sneak out to engage in violence back when he was in high school. He would fall asleep anywhere during the day, collapsing in the school hallway, in the cafeteria or the bathroom. He held a lot of anger for his condition and could never find a moment where he could lay his head down peacefully.

Thank goodness for modern medicine. Now Ace could sleep like this at night, and with the help if even more medicine, he was able to stay awake during the day, work and lead a normal life. Sabo draws the lines of Ace's body, the hair that falls on his face, every freckle that dots his face and he interprets the sketch in the way that he sees him.

It captures him perfectly. Sabo tears off the page and wants to rip the paper apart, because what if someone sees it? But he can't, so he folds it over and hides among some old sketches of Sora in his workroom.

After covering Ace with a blanket, Sabo also tries to get some sleep in his and Luffy's room. It is not an easy task because no matter how big the bed is, Luffy somehow finds a way to occupy the entire space. No matter how many times Sabo moves him, Luffy's legs just always seem to find a way to end up on top of him. He resigns himself to his fate, this is no different from how the boy slept when they were growing up.

He falls asleep to thoughts of Ace, home and the feeling of belonging. Whatever happens next, Sabo won't run away again.

 

 


	6. You Are So Warm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots of Sabo x Ace moments, Cool ASL moments and also Kid is hanging around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * * *
> 
> _Italics = Character's memories_   
>  __  
>  **Bold + Italics = Sabo's stories.**   
> 
> 
> * * *
> 
> "I just might go off the deep end  
> When I've had too much, can't shut me up, now when you start to creep in  
> Know that everyone is sick of all my reasons, I let you come and go like seasons..."
> 
> -Normani (Waves)

Sabo pours himself a cup of coffee and sits across from Ace who is just about to finish his breakfast and go to work.

"So, I was thinking, the anniversary of Gramps' death is coming up soon, I though we should do something on that day." Sabo says.

Ace looks up at him. "You're right, it'll be the first time in two years all three of us have been together on that day." He finishes his coffee. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm not sure yet, but I'll figure something out."

 "Alright. I'll leave it to you." Ace stands up. "Hey can I have my cigarettes?"

Sabo reaches into his pocket and hands Ace a single cigarette. "For today."

"Be reasonable, Sabo. I won't be able to function without at least three of those." Ace begs trying to reach for the pack of cigarettes in Sabo's hand.

"One." Sabo responds.

"Come on!"

"Take it or leave it."

"Please?" Ace makes puppy dog eyes at him, and Sabo looks away.

Focus. He tells himself. He can't let Ace charm him into relenting. He is doing this for him after all. His health is what's most important. 

"That won't work on me." Sabo lies. "Two. That's my final offer. However you should only use the second one if there is an emergency... though I can't think of any such emergency that can be held by smoking a cigarette."  Sabo responds.

Ace sighs. "Damn, I was sure that would work. You're a hard man to please Sabo. Fine, give me those two."

***

Sabo has a meeting with his publisher that day and when he returns home, he notices that his car is also parked outside. That can only mean Kid was here. When he walks into the house, he is immediately greeted by loud voices in the living room. It is Luffy and Kid busy playing video games and shouting at the top of their voices as they violently push the buttons on the controllers. They look absorbed in the game, and they look up when he walks in.

"You two look like you're having fun." He comments.

"Hey, you're back." Kid smiles.

He supposes that kid came here to bring his car back.

"Sabo look at that, I'm just kicking his ass at Pirate Warriors!" Luffy laughs as the game intensifies.

"Huh? What are you talking about? I won the game before the last! I'm totally ahead." Kid fires back.

"Yeah, but I won the last one, and I'm gonna win this! I am going to be the King of the- eeeh...I lost!" Luffy says and throws down the controller.

"Told ya!" Kid says in satisfaction. "So, Sabo, how'd your meeting go? Did they give you a new contract?"

"Yeah! How did it go? What did they say?" Luffy asks already getting over his momentary depression.

"You know how the head of our publishing company, Mr Buggy is. We had to negotiate on the new terms, I mean, I did breach the contract last time." Sabo says. "But I did get a new contract! We start serialisation of _Sora_ in three weeks."

"Yay!" Luffy jumps up and down on the sofa. "I can't wait! That's so cool!"

"Yeah, well done." Kid says.

"Yeah, they're gonna do a marketing campaign to promote the new release by selling the previous volumes at a discount. I'll probably have to sign some of them too." Sabo sighed. It's gonna be a long month.

"I'm totally gonna buy it!" Luffy says. "I'm want to buy the signed one. I have all the volumes, even the limited edition ones. I'm gonna buy even more now!"

"I keep telling you that there is no need, if you want one I can just get one for you. I mean I get them for  free."

"No way, I wanna buy it! I should go tell everyone to buy it too. I'm so excited." Luffy says and leaves immediately.

"There he goes. I better not disappoint the people that actually want to read my new story." Sabo shakes his head.

"Congratulations, we should celebrate. How about we go out for a drink?" Kid suggests.

He's not even hiding his intentions. Sabo rolls his eyes. "I don't have time for that. Ussop is coming over later, we're gonna have to meet with the colourist, because the first few panels of the first chapter gonna be coloured."

"That sounds exhausting, especially for a perfectionist like you."

"I want to make sure everything goes right, so I'm gonna be busy. Don't disturb me for the next whole week." He says.

"Wait, hold up! Let's talk for a second." Kid says following him to his workroom.

"Right. Thanks for bringing the car around." Sabo says clearing out his drawing table.

"No problem." Kid sits on the bed at the corner of Sabo's workroom, and watches him.

"Do you need something else?" Sabo asks.

"Not really." Kid is looking up at the ceiling. "It just makes me a little mad."

"What do you mean?"

"How many times did I try to talk to you? And yet one visit from him and you're drawing again. A month later you come back home. I wasn't sure, but I'm convinced now." Kid sighs.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Sabo lies. Kid is way too intuitive for his liking.

"I'm not stupid, you know." He stands up. "I'm gonna leave you to your work. See ya."

"Wait." Sabo says.

"Hmm, you were practically kicking me out earlier and now you want me to stay?" Kid smiles. "I can totally do that."

"Will you stop? I need your opinion on something. While you are still here, the truth is, I'm creating this new character, and I want to know if you don't mind me modelling him after you." Sabo says.

Kid sits up immediately. "Really?" He smiles. "What kind of a person is he? Good guy or bad guy?"

"Hmm, he's actually quite ambiguous.  Well, are you cool with it?"

"Sure," He stands up. "But on one condition. Make me a villain strong enough to defeat him."

"Defeat who?" Sabo asks.

"Axl."

"Huh? Why him of all people?"

Kid stands up immediately. "You know why. To you, I'll never measure up to him in this lifetime. So, if you can make me defeat him in another medium, that'll make me feel a bit better."

Sabo drops his pen. "W-What are you-"

"Like I said, I'm not stupid you know." Kid starts walking out. "I'm outta here. See you around."

Sabo sighs. Why is everything so complicated? He needs to hurry up and make a decision on what he wants to do without getting others hurt.

He gets a text from Ace, the first person he had texted as soon as the deal was finalised, letting him know about the new contract. 

 **Ace:** Sorry I missed your call. Congrats I knew u could do it!

 **Sabo:** Thanks😊 I was really nervous...

 **Ace:** Whaaat!! I wasn't, cuz you're awesome idiot. U should believe in yourself more. Everyone but you knows how great ur work is so don't doubt urself 

Sabo can't help but smile at those words. He really knows what to say, doesn't he?

 **Sabo:** Who are u calling an idiot????

 **Ace:** The dumbass reading this😛. 

 **Ace** : I'd say let's grab a brew but your anxious ass is probably already working.

 **Ace** : Workaholic 

 **Sabo** : What? I'm totally not.

 **Ace** : Liar. I'll leave you to it, genius.

With new motivation spurring him on, Sabo continues working happily, less tense now. Ace really knows him well.

 ***

The following weeks are very busy for Sabo, but with Ussop's help, he is able to meet the deadline. Today, Sabo is busy working on the final checking and correcting the colour palettes of the first chapter of _Sora_ before he can send the final manuscript to Hack printing. Its really  ready, is done and it's been edited all that's left is for printing. In all honesty Sabo is really nervous but he's already finished the second chapter as well. The storyboard for the third chapter is currently being corrected by Hack. After looking through the first chapter for any mistakes, anything that he can change, Sabo is quite satisfied with the product. It is going to be published next week.

It is almost evening, and after receiving a text from Luffy that he won't be coming home tonight because there's an all night party at Shanks' house, he shakes his head. Sabo needs some time to relax because he's been working so hard all day, strange enough, the thing that relaxes him most is getting a workout. Since Ace converted Garp's old room into a gym, he walks into the gym and stars doing bench presses to relax himself. After fifteen minutes or so, suddenly he hears a strange sound outside.

Sabo walks to the kitchen in just pants and no shirt. It sounds like someone's trying to break into the house, like someone is trying to pick the lock on the front door. Sabo grabs a pipe from the bathroom and walks towards the door carefully, wondering if it's a robber. He's sure that he can handle them himself and  doesn't feel the need to call security or anything.

He unlocks and opens the door, and to his surprise outside there is a young woman staring back at him. She has long wavy green hair and pretty bright eyes. She looks surprised at having been caught in the act of trying to break into the house.

"Who are you?" She says.

"That's my line! Who the fuck are you and why are you trying to break into my house?" Sabo snaps.

The girl frowns, "What? Your house? This is Ace's house."

Ace? Sabo looks at her, she has a slender body, she's a beautiful girl but she just tried to break in, so she's probably a little psychotic. Definitely Ace's type. He takes a deep breath. So, this is the girl that Ace has been trying to get rid of for a while now.

Well, this wouldn't be the first time that he's had to break up with someone for Ace.

"Lady, you can't go around breaking into people's houses. This may be Ace's house, but he's not the only one who lives here, you know." He tells her.

"You haven't answered my question. Who are you?" Monet says. "What are you doing in here?"

"I just told you. I live here."

The girl frowns. "What? No you don't. He lives with his younger brother, Luffy. I know him!"

"Listen, lady, I'm gonna put this as delicately as I possibly can. Ace can't give you what you want. He's been ghosting you for weeks, that means he's done with you. Sorry." Sabo tells her.

"I'm his girlfriend, so don't lie to me! He's just been busy with work." She says.

"How can you still claim to be his girlfriend? In the past two weeks that I've been living here, I've never seen you. Ace comes home straight from work and spends every night here." Sabo says exasperated.

"With you?" She asks angrily.

"What?" Sabo is at a loss for words.

"You two are together, right? It makes sense. He said that he didn't want me coming here, I just thought that he liked his privacy." Her face appears to be angry. "He was trying to hide the fact that you moved in with him!"

Sabo supposes that this is a logical assumption on her part. He can dissuade her of course, but he finds himself speaking before he can think.

"It's good that you get what's going on here. I hope you don't ever come back here again." He smiles.

What is he saying?

"You seem awfully confident! How are you sure that he won't do the same thing to you too, huh?" She asks.

This honestly hits a little too close to home. "Well, Ace practically came to my house and _begged_ me to come live here with him. So I don't think you need to worry about me." He says.

No, really, why is he saying all this? Gloating to one of Ace's conquests won't make him feel better. It won't shift Ace's eyes towards him either.

"That lying, cheating bastard! I'm gonna kill him!" Monet just storms out of the place and drives away in her car.

Sabo sighs. Why does Ace always shun anyone who falls in love with him? Well he's done his part, he supposes. Part of him feels like crap, but well, he convinces himself that Ace did this to himself.

~  
It's almost time to go home, and Ace is at work. It's just another normal day before he finishes work as he is busy reviewing the monthly report. He is a little concerned because they've been losing some of their smaller clients. It is not a big loss financially for the company, but Pops always cared about protecting small businesses giving them good discount packages with good benefits. It is a little upsetting to see so many of them leaving Whitebeard Security. He is sure that Marco will do a follow up to find out the reason though.

"Um, sir?" Someone knocks on his door. "Mr. Portgas?"

"What is it?" Ace asks his secretary, Asuka.

"It looks like someone is trying to destroy your car, sir." She says.

"What?" Ace stands up in alarm, "What's the parking lot security doing?"

"Well, Mr Phoenix said they shouldn't do anything and to just call you."

"Shit!" Ace runs downstairs and there he meets up with Marco at the lobby.

"Seriously, Ace, how many times is this gonna happen in your lifetime?" Marco asks sternly, shaking his head.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" He responds.

"Can't you have one clean breakup with your lovers? Stop dating crazy people, and disrupting our work." He says. There are some other employees watching the parking lot through the windows whispering among themselves.

Ace runs outside to the parking lot and sure enough, there is Monet, she's hitting his car windows with a golf club and the words ASSHOLE are spray painted on the body.

"Monet, what the hell are you doing?" Ace shouts running over to her, aware that there are people watching them.

"Shut up, you asshole!" She says when she sees him. "Avoiding my calls, ignoring me, not coming to my house even when I invited you! Telling me that you want your privacy and you won't let me come to your house, when the truth is you're hiding the fact that you're cheating on me!" She screams.

Ace is taken aback. "What are you talking about? I've never cheated on you!"

"You're still lying?" She shatters the rear view mirror.

"Calm down, I'm not lying." He steps back, because it's a little dangerous since she's still carrying the golf club.

"You lying to me, even now! I went to your house, I wanted to surprise you." She shouts. "Ace, I saw him! That blond little pretty boy living in your house. He told me everything!"

Ace raises his eyebrows. "A blond pretty boy? Oh, you mean Sabo? Wait I can explain that-"

"No need. I get it, okay. He already told me. You should have just told me the truth and not left me feeling like an idiot!" She says. "Bastard!"

What on earth did Sabo say to her? If Ace explains the truth to her, she probably won't be angry anymore but then he won't be able to shake her off. Sabo created a good opportunity for him to get rid of her.

"I'm sorry, I just I thought you'd get the message if I stopped talking to you, but you're just a bit too clingy." Ace says.

Monet angrily drops the club and slaps him in the face.

"I hope you burn in hell, asshole!" Monet says as she stomps away.

Well, that's that.

Ace looks at the mess that is his car and almost cries inside. This is a new car that he bought recently after all.

"What's this Ace? I almost ran over a raging young woman outside. I should've known it was your fault." Ace turns around to see that Thatch just arrived for his own shift.

"It's not funny. How the fuck am I supposed to drive a car like this?" Ace curses. "Hey Marco, can I leave early today please?"

"Okay, whatever. The day's almost done anyway." Marco says going back inside. It's a little embarrassing for Ace, but everyone is giggling looking at him.

"Well it's not the first time a mess has been caused in here because of you. Don't let it happen again, okay?" Thatch pats his shoulder.

Ace rolls his eyes, gets into the damaged car and drives it to Kid's garage.

~

The moment he pulls in there with that trashed car, Kid gives him a side eye.

"Don't look at me like that!" Ace snaps in annoyance.

"What happened? Did you break another heart?" Kid asks in amusement as Killer examines the car.

"Shut up. Hand me a cigarette?" Ace asks walking over to Kid in the shed.

"Are you supposed to smoke?" Kid asks throwing an entire pack to him.

"I think I deserve a third one today. It's been one hell of a stressful day, I'm sure Sabo won't complain either." Ace says lighting it up and starts smoking.

"Just don't set anything on fire, otherwise the entire place will blow up." Kid warns. "What happened anyway?"

"This is Sabo's doing, not my fault." Ace answers blowing out smoke from his mouth.

Kid's eyes sharply snap towards him.

"Sabo? Sabo did this?" He asks. "Don't tell me, did that guy actually get the courage to confess and get rejected?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Ace ask with a confused look on his. "If he did, why would he do that to _my_ car?"

Kid scratches his face "That's not what happened? Forget I said anything."

"Don't just tell me to forget-"

"No really, I didn't mean anything by it, it was just a comment."

"Just a comment?"

"Oi, Killer, how does it look?" Kid walks away.

"Wait a sec!" Ace puts out the cigarette and follows Kid to the car.

"Well, we need to replace the rear view mirror, two of the windows and the body needs a new paint job." Says Killer pushing his hair back.

"How much is that going to cost?" Ace asks.

"I'll get the quotation for this ready, and I'm sure I'll be done with it in a few days." Kid says.

"Okay, thanks. It's a newer car so you better be super delicate with it."

"I'm pretty sure I know more about this car than you do." He snorts. "Don't worry, okay."

"Alright, I'll call a taxi from here." Ace says.

"No need. As a service, Killer will drive you home." Kid offers.

"I will? Why?" Killer asks.

"Because I feel sorry for him. Now do it." Kid speaks in a low voice.

"I feel like you're chasing me out." Ace says getting into the car.

"Not at all. I just wanna start work on your car asap." Kid replies.

On the drive home, Ace wonders what Kid meant by his words earlier, but he's sure that he won't offer up any information since he was so eager to send him away. So he decides to leave it be for now.

"Thanks, Killer." He says getting out of the car.

"No problem." Killer says. "As soon as Kid's done with your car, I'll let you know." He drives away.

~

When Ace goes inside the house, he finds Sabo in the middle of making dinner in the kitchen. The house is quiet, which means Luffy's not here.

"Hey, you're back." Sabo is giving him a strange glance.

"Where's Luffy?" Ace asks.

"He's not coming home tonight, he's at a party at Shanks' house."

"Again?" He puts down his briefcase on the chair.

"I saw that someone drove you home today, where's your car?" Sabo asks.

Ace grits his teeth. "You're asking me that like it's not your fault?"

"My fault?"

"Monet trashed my car windows!"

Sabo turns aways and feigns innocence. "Monet? Ah, the girl from earlier. She seems nice." He says .

"Don't give me that crap! What the hell did you say to her? She embarrassed me at work! She destroyed my car... it's got asshole written all over it and I got slapped! Do you see that? There's probably her hand print on my cheek don't act like it's not your fault!" Ace shouts.

"Are you saying you didn't deserve to get slapped?"

"What?" Ace asks angrily.

"You should have just ended things with her when you felt that she was falling in love with you. Or better yet probably shouldn't have gotten into the relationship if you weren't going to be committed at all." Sabo tells him.

"Stop. I am not getting another lecture from you." Ace says.

"All I'm saying is that slap probably hurts you less than how you leaving her in the dust hurts her." Sabo tells him. "You've never been in love, so you don't know, but it hurts like a bitch."

"What's that got to do with me? I never made her any promises. She chose to fall in love, and I opted out."

"I wish you'd stop running anytime someone falls in love with you, Ace."

Ace stands up. "I'm different from fools like you who just hand your heart to someone who doesn't want it. Hasn't done you any good, has it?" He says coldly.

Sabo feels like he has been punched in the gut. Why are Ace's words so cold? Why in the world did he fall in love with someone who doesn't desire to fall in love? How much he wishes he could show Ace the beauty of love!

"You also need to come to your senses before it's too late." Ace pulls out the pack of cigarettes that he got from Kid.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sabo asks him pointedly.

"Don't say anything, okay? Nothing! Zilch!" Ace says but Sabo won't stop glaring at him. "Argh! Fine, I get it." He throws the pack down. "You're so infuriating, you know that?"

"I'm doing this for you, you know. You shouldn't keep expecting your messes to clean themselves up or expecting others to clean up your messes. So don't do it again next time. You'll thank me one day." Sabo says.

"Whatever. I'm going to take a shower." He replies in annoyance.

"Ace!"

"I said whatever! Geez!" 

Well that went well.

***

Ace only stays mad for two days, probably the fact that he doesn't have to worry about Monet bugging him anymore is a great help.

"Luffy, Ace, both of you keep this coming weekend open." Sabo informs the two of them one morning. 

"Oh, are we gonna go visit Grandpa? It's this Friday, isn't it?" Luffy asks.

"That's right, I'll take the day off. I better inform Marco so that there's someone to cover for me on that day." Ace says.

"Good, but I'm talking about the entire weekend, not just Friday. The three of us are gonna visit Gramps and then we're going on a trip. I've planned everything already." Sabo tells them.

"A trip?" A smile breaks on Luffy's face. "I love it! I should get my camera ready, so we can take loads of pictures. Where are we going, Sabo?"

"Yeah, I'm curious too." Ace chips in.

"I bet you are. Luffy you better pack extra batteries because we are going camping." Sabo smiles. 

Ace's eyebrows rise. "Wait. Don't tell me we're going to-"

"MOUNT CORVO!!!" Luffy shouts. "Oh man! We haven't been there in years! Not since Ace went to join the Marines! It's gonna be so much fun! Let's go now!"

"Yes, we're going to Mt. Corvo and no, we're not going now. I just finished making the arrangements with Dogra." Sabo says. "We'll have the entire place to ourselves until Sunday."

"You know, I'm actually excited too. The old man used to take us there all the time. I think it's a good place to remember him. Well done Sabo." Ace smiles. 

"Well, I still need to borrow Dadan's truck to travel through the woods, I'm sure she won't mind. I'll also look through the garage and see what camping equipment we've got." He says.

Ace reaches into his wallet and hands him a credit card. "You're better at planning and stuff than me. Use that to buy anything else that we need."

"Whoa, I have a job too you know. You don't have to worry about taking care of me."

"Just take the damn card, Sabo!"

"If he doesn't want it, can I have it? I think having two credit cards is better than one. I wonder if I could buy a ship with that?" Luffy interjects thoughtfully. 

"No way!" Both Ace and Sabo says at once.

His face falls. "Damn, I thought I could trick you."

"Of course not." Ace stands up, ready to go to work, and leaves the card on the table. "You haven't gotten paid yet. Use it."

"I still have money in my-" Sabo sighs. "Fine, I'll use it."

"Good. Are you sure you have time to take care of everything though? With work and stuff?"

"There's still a lot I need to do, but this week is surprisingly not busy for me, I'm almost done with the finished product for the third chapter, and chapter one is getting published on Sunday." Sabo replies. "I'll take this time to relax a little." 

"Suit yourself." Ace leaves.

~

On Friday morning, Ace parks the truck outside the dreary graveyard. A black cloaked figure catches his eye before getting into a small black car.

As the three boys walk through the cemetry, they are uncharacteristically quiet. The graveyard is neatly packed with many rows of tombstones stretching across the entire plot. Some are well kept, not a speck of dust or leaf on them, but on others, grass grows over the graves as they begin to decay from poor maintenance. The boys found the stone with Monkey D. Garp written on it, wherein lay the urn containing their grandfather's ashes.

"Oh?" Sabo looks at the grave. "It's been cleaned, and the grass trimmed too. It looks recent."

"You think someone else came to visit Grandpa today?" Luffy asks. 

"It was Dragon. I saw him at the entrance." Ace mumbles. 

"What? Why didn't you say anything?" Sabo looks at him.

"I'm pretty sure that he saw us, and if he wanted to talk to us, he would have done so. It's not like him visiting the old man now is gonna make any-" 

"Ace!"

"Both of you stop. Nows not the time." Luffy says dismissively and proceeds to bow before the grave.

"Right. Sorry." Ace says as he and Sabo follow suit. "Hey, old man. I'm sorry it took so long for the three of us to come visit you together. It's my fault, as the eldest, I should have worked harder to keep our family together."

"It's not Ace's fault. Luffy can't stay in one place for too long, and I had some issues to deal with. You know how we are, Gramps, you'll forgive us right?" Sabo asks.

"Yeah, Grandpa, we're gonna make up for it at camp this weekend, away from civilisation for two nights. We'll be by ourselves so it'll be just like the time you left us there for a week alone with just water." Luffy says.

"Don't worry we'll torture ourselves and have fun at the same time, just like you taught us." Sabo says. "Look, we brought you rice crackers, alcohol and flowers too."

Ace smiles, "I bet he appreciates the latter two more."

"Definitely. "

The three of them stay there for half an hour longer before leaving to go on their trip.

 *** 

The drive to Mt Corvo is four hours long, and in that time, Ace drives up to the to the entrance of the Mount Corvo camping grounds. The entire area is about 50 hectares of land, there is a green forest, lakes, dozens of rocky hills as well as the mountain itself which is about 2 600 metres high.

"How come it's so empty?" Luffy asks when they park the car, and start walking towards a shady area where they can set up their camp, carrying all of their camping equipment. "I mean when Grandpa used to bring us here there usually were some people, not a lot, but some."

"The truth is, this place was closed down has a campsite four years ago because it's unsafe." Sabo explains. "I was only able to secure of this because of Dogra. So we need to be careful and-"

"It's too dangerous?" Luffy's eyes are sparkling.

"Oh boy, you probably shouldn't have said that Sabo." Ace says as he finishes setting up the tent.

"Well, anyway there are some rules that we need to follow. Both of you listen. We can climb the mountains, we can hike around the place, we can do whatever we want but we can't do any hunting here." Sabo says. "Don't worry, I brought enough food. We can't hunt, but we can fish. We need to be careful around the lakes because apparently there are crocodiles."

"Can we fish for crocodiles?" Luffy asks again.

"Please don't." Ace says sharply.

"Also, don't feed the baboons. You hear that Luffy?"

"Ace! Ace! Come on, start a bonfire. Let's cook our meat!" Luffy says excitedly.

"He's not listening to me."

"Wouldn't be the first time." Ace shrugs.

It is already evening and the sun has almost finished setting when the bonfire is burning hot while the meat is being braaid in coals. The three boys are sitting outside their tents listening to the crickets' song.

"Let's sit around the bonfire and tell ghost stories." Luffy says excitedly.

"Or we can just eat some meat and get drunk. Live a little." Sabo says bringing the beer bottles from the cooler box.

"Look who's talking!" Ace laughs taking the beer from him.

"I'm fine with that too, but don't drink so much that you can't climb the mountain tomorrow." Luffy also says.

"But man, it really has been a minute since we've been here. I'd forgotten how beautiful the sky is at night." Ace sighs looking up.

"To be fair, I don't think we ever really had time to appreciate the beauty of nature when Gramps brought us here. We were scared for our lives." Sabo laughs.

"True, but now we can remember those times fondly." Luffy sighs taking a picture of the setting sun. "I mean, do you guys remember that time, I think I was nine, when we told Grandpa that none of us was ever going to join the Marines? I was mad because I wanted to go on a journey with Shanks and I said I was gonna run away and travel illegally with my dad!"

"How could I forget?" Ace sat up. "Back then, I was such a messed up kid, I told him I was gonna join a gang and go around stabbing people. Damn, he was so fucking livid man!"

"I didn't even say anything, but I got punished with you two. He didn't even give us water that time, and he left us here for a whole week! We were starving!" Sabo shakes his head.

"Yeah, he said he was training us for the Marines, but I can guarantee you, none of their training was as hard as his." Ace says.

"Maybe it was easier because you were used to it." Luffy points out.

"Maybe."

"It's a wonder he managed to raise us into half decent people. We gave him a hell of hard time. All of us." Sabo sighs.

"Yeah we were delinquents, but he was still way too hard on us." Ace says.

"That's true. But he saved my life. More than once."

"Mine too."

"Mine too."

Ace opens another bottle and raises it. "To the old man."

"To Gramps."

"To Grandpa."

They click the three bottles together as a shooting star runs through the sky.

***

"Tell me again, why we set up three tents if Luffy's just gonna sleep in yours?" Ace asks in the morning after they have breakfast.

"Don't look at me. Besides, I'm used to it." Sabo shrugs.

"Come on, let's go!" Luffy says from outside, bag already on his shoulder. "Let's climb the mountain."

"Wait a minute. I need to make sure we have everything." Sabo says as he looks at the contents of each bag.

He makes sure that there is adequate climbing equipment, parachutes, navigation equipment, sun protection, a first aid aid kit, emergency bivvies, lots of food, vitamins, water and energy drinks. As soon as he's done making sure that everyone is dressed appropriately (much to his chagrin, Luffy is forced to change out of his shorts) they set off.

The hike itself is quite interesting and filled with some adventure or other. They come across an old tree which still contains a treehouse that the three of them built when they were kids. They built it to sleep in, because Garp didn't leave them any tents. It's a little broken and the wood has rotten, but it's still there, so they take a picture in front of it.

By the time they reach the base of the mountain it's already about 10am, and they start climbing the mountain together bit by bit and it takes them about four hours before they reach the top. They race to the top, with Ace being the first to reach it. Of course, this makes Luffy mad and he stand on top of the mountain and shouts:

"I am the king of the world!"

His two brothers are already used to his behaviour so it doesn't bother them all that much. They take some time to rest on top of the mountain. They eat their food and play chess, which Sabo wins easily. This also pisses Luffy off even though he had no chance at all and he decides that he is going to be the first one down.

They stay there until late afternoon and it starts getting colder before they think about heading down. Sabo sets up Luffy's parachute for him.

Luffy stands on the edge of the mountain, looks at the set, and asks. 

"How does this parachute thing work again? Oh, well, whatever I'm going to figure it out."

"Wait, Luffy!" Ace calls, but like a bird, Luffy jumps off without another word.

"You think he's going to be okay?" Sabo asks staring after him as Luffy's joyful scream echoes in the wind.

"I hope so." Ace says fastening on his own parachute. "But just in case, I'm going down first. Don't dawdle."

"Okay!" Sabo watches as Ace gracefully jumps from the mountain. What a perfect day it has been! Being here together with Ace and Luffy, almost like little children again. He wants to share more and more memories like this with them.

And so he dives through the sky after them. Luffy's fine, thankfully. Somehow he managed to figure out how to use the parachute in  midair.

It's been a long, happy Saturday and three of them had a lot of fun together. They lie down on the grass at their campsite and rest off the adrenaline from the jump. There is still a little while before they get started on dinner.

"I'm going to go fishing." Luffy says getting his fishing pole. "I'll catch us a big fish, so when I get back the bonfire should better be ready."

"How does he have that much energy?" Sabo says going into the tent.

~

As it continues to get darker, Ace makes the bonfire even bigger, sure Luffy will appreciate it.

"You know, Luffy's been gone for a while. How long does it take to catch a few fish? You think he's okay?" Sabo asks coming out from the tent.

"Maybe you better go check on him." Ace agrees.

Sabo walks towards the lake, and looks around on the bank for Luffy. He sees him in the distance struggling to hold up his fishing pole and before he can yell out to him, Luffy falls into the water.

"LUFFY!" Sabo shouts and dives into the water.

After all, Luffy can't swim. Since it is already night time, the water is freezing cold and Sabo is afraid that Luffy might get hypothermia if he stays in there too long. He swims over to him, which takes a lot of effort and finally catches him on his way to the bottom of the the lake. As soon as Sabo pulls Luffy to the surface, he coughs.

"Hey, are you okay?" Sabo asks.

Luffy coughs urgently. "There's....crocodile..."

As soon as he says it, Sabo feels something bite him hard on the ankle. "Ouch!" He shouts, but quickly throws Luffy onto solid ground.

"Sabo? Get out of there!" Luffy screams at him, but the crocodile is pulling him down into the water.

Sabo kicks the damn thing and it bites even harder into his ankle. He curses, he can barely even concentrate with the coldness of the water holding him as he attempts to shake the crocodile off. He feels himself getting dragged down as his face gets submerged and he struggles to keep his eyes open. With one last ditch effort, he kicks its head and the crocodile lets go of his foot and falls to the bottom of the lack. He has to swim up...has to keep his eyes open...has to...

Ace hears loud voices coming from the lake, and on instinct, runs there as fast as he can. He sees Luffy shivering calling out his name desperately trying to run towards him.

"What's wrong?!" He asks alarmed. 

All he hears is Sabo, crocodile and drowning before he jumps into the water without hesitation. He swims down and sees Sabo unmoving as his body steadily falls down the lake. He's unconscious. He is not too heavy for Ace to carry to the surface, and Luffy pulls both of them up.

"Is he..." 

Ace turns Sabo's head to the side.

"Go to the campsite and stay by the fire right now Luffy!" Ace orders. "I'll take care of him."

Unable to protest, and barely able to walk steadily, Luffy does as he is told.

As soon as no more water drips from Sabos nose and mouth, Ace turns the head back to the center. He starts with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, pinching his nose and breathing twice into his mouth. Sabo coughs out more water and his chest begins to move slowly. His body is shivering uncontrollably, but his eyes are still closed and his face is lifeless.

Ace picks him up and carries him back to the campsite. The first thing he does is to remove the wet clothes and cover him in dry ones. Sabo's eyes are unfocused, opening and closing as if out of his control. Ace dresses Sabo's wound first to stop the bleeding. He puts him inside a sleeping bag in the tent, he is thankful for his marine training in this situation. 

"Hold on for a minute, okay? Whatever you do, don't close your eyes. Stay awake." Ace runs outside again with his phone towards the entrance of the camp where he'd last gotten a signal. It is weak, but it will do. If he calls an ambulance here, it will take a while for them to get through the woods. He decides to abuse his power as a Whitebeard Security executive and call for an emergency helicopter.

After the call, he runs back to the campsite, where Luffy is sitted.

"Stay by the fire and don't move, okay?" Ace instructs. Luffy, wrapped up in a sleeping bag, nods.

"Is S-S-Sabo..." Luffy shivers.

"He'll be fine. Worry about yourself." Ace tells him quickly rushing into Sabo's tent with a first aid kit for his injury.

Ace only left him alone for less than two minutes, but Sabo's face is as white as a ghost. His lips have a blueish ting to them.

"Hey, I told you not to close your eyes, Sabo." Ace panics slightly. "Sabo, are you awake? Are you still conscious?"

"Cold..." Sabo's voice is a barely audible whisper.

His breathing is also very slow and shallow. He is still shivering. Ace takes a deep breath. It will be at least half an hour before the Whitebeard Security helicopter gets here. He has to keep Sabo warm in the mean time and prevent him from losing consciousness. 

Luckily for him, Ace's body temperature has always been abnormally high. His mother used to take him to doctors all the time thinking he had a fever, but it seemed he had natural pyrexia. His normal body temperature is 40°C. Having been in the Marines, Ace knows that the best way to deliver heat to a hypothermic patient is none other than human contact.

Ace takes off his shirt, and seeing as Sabo is also wearing a thin layer t-shirt since his warmer clothes are wet, it would be best to give him heat through direct skin to skin contact.

"Bear with it for a second." Ace mutters opening the sleeping bag and removing Sabo's t-shirt, making his teeth clatter with the cold. Ace then slips into the sleeping bag with him, it is quite small but he manages to squeeze himself in there. He shifts his arm around Sabo's waist so that they are chest to chest and he is holding him to deliver as much heat as possible. 

Sabo's eyes flutter open, but he seems drowsy still. "A-A-A-Ace.... this....a good dream...."

"Do you feel warmer now?" Ace asks him when he feels Sabo's shivering begin to subside. "I can't tell because I can feel your heartbeat going very fast. Is that normal?"

"Of course... you're here..."

Ace sighs. "You're not making any sense. Well, confusion is a symptom of hypothermia, so I suppose you talking nonsense is better than you losing consciousness."

"My dreams...always like this..." Sabo's words are slurred. "Ace...you are so warm...but why in reality... you don't know it...but...you are so...cold to me..."

What on earth is he saying? Ace doesn't understand, but Sabo sounds so sad in that moment that he wonders if maybe he's not just saying that? Is there some meaning to it? Either way, he needs to keep him talking and conscious. 

"What did I do?" He asks.

"Your words...keep breaking my heart..."

Ace's eyes widen in surprise. "Hey what do you mean by that? I break your heart?"

"Yeah...more than... anyone...because I... Ace..."

"What? You what, Sabo?" He starts to ask, but then he hears the sound of the helicopter approaching outside finally.

"-Hold on, we'll get you to the hospital, I'll go meet the helicopter now." Ace says getting out of the sleeping bag. 

"Don't...go..." Sabo's feeble voice says as a weak hand tries to hold him back. 

"I'll be back I promise." He says. "And then we'll continue our conversation. I get the feeling that you are hiding something from me."

He goes out to meet the paramedics. 

 ~

The paramedics attend to Luffy and Sabo and they both have to spend the night in the hospital under observation but they are good to come back home the following day. 

Nervously, Ace knocks on the door to Sabo's workroom, not really sure how to ask him what he meant at the campsite. "Hey, it's me." He says opening the door slightly.

"Oh, good. Come in, I want you to look at this. It's for a double page spread, I'm showing Sora's face for the first time. The entire page is about him. What do you think?" Sabo says showing Ace the drawing he's currently working on.

Ace takes a look at the panel, it certainly looks great. "Wow, that looks amazing. I love his new design." He smiles. "I see you gave him a scar on his eye too... He looks more like you than ever."

"You think so?" Sabo frowns. "No way, his hair is longer, mine's not. Besides, I want to show how much the three year time skip changed him, I want him to look braver."

Ace tilts his head to the side. "Does that mean that you are braver too now?"

Sabo looks away, "What do you mean?"

"It's about what you said at the campsite, when you were sick...do you remember?" Ace asks slowly. 

"Hmm? Were we talking about something? Sorry, my brain's all fuzzy, you know I don't have the best memory in the world and I was sick to boot." Sabo shakes his head. Did he say something stupid? "What was it about?"

How to explain it? Ace doesn't really know what to say right now. "Uh, forget it then." He scratches his head. "I just...got the feeling you wanted to tell me something...that's all. But you were pretty delirious so..."

"Ah, sorry, I caused you a lot of trouble. But I'm sure it was nothing important." Sabo says absent-mindedly.

Ace bites his lip. That's right, it was probably nothing. Sabo probably hallucinated that he was somebody else, that's all.

He really wants to believe that, but it's just that coupled with what Kid said to him, all kinds of thoughts have been floating through Ace's mind, all ridiculous of course...so he hoped Sabo would be able clear it up for him. It's actually disappointing not knowing what is going on in Sabo's head. He used to be able to read him so well. He knows that he will have to let it go for now. But no matter what happens, the thought just won't leave his mind even as he leaves Sabo's workroom.

  Ace suppresses a sigh because he knows that this will bug him forever. 

Meanwhile, after Ace leaves, Sabo finishes lettering the chapter, he reviews the story as it is now. 

_**The story opened with a chapter focused on Lucy and Axl, showing the changes in the world in the past three years that Sora had been presumed dead. The threat of the Revolutionary Army has increased in the past years as well, and a new warrior for them has come into the light, going after all types of shady government facilities, and destroying them. He is a mysterious individual who wears a mask to cover his face. The government is gunning for him, and in this latest chapter, Sora was revealed to be the masked revolutionary. Having spent the last three years recovering and running from his previous life, he has reached a crossroads. No matter how many people he's saved working for the Revolutionary Army, it's not enough to atone for what he did while working for the government. He will try to save the world that they are trying to destroy.** _

_**Sora can no longer avoid dealing with the fallout of his 'death' and the severe impact it had on his siblings. His sister continues to rise in the ranks of the corrupt government which leaches more from its people than it gives. His brother meanwhile has joined the greatest criminal organisation in the world, going around throwing kingdoms into chaos. Sora can no longer look the other way, he cannot hide in the shell of pretending to be dead. He has to be brave enough to do what is right. He has to stick to his resolve no matter how hard it may be.** _

_**The time has come for him to confront his brother.** _

 

Sabo is satisfied with the chapter, and plans to send it to Hack for final corrections. This story has always in many ways paralleled his own. 

"A little braver, huh?" He mutters. That's right, he must not let fear hold him back. He has to make a resolve too. After so many years of hiding it, of watching Ace from the distance, Sabo finally makes the decision. 

It's time to tell Ace the truth.


	7. If It's You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The moment of truth, for both Sabo and Ace is here. Also, Ace is hella confused in this chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * * *
> 
> _Italics = Character's memories_   
>  __  
>  **Bold + Italics = Sabo's stories.**   
> 
> 
> * * *
> 
> Darling, don't be afraid, I have loved you for a thousand years  
> I'll love you for a thousand more
> 
> -Christina Perry (A Thousand Years)

_Ace held Rouge's hand as she lay dying on the hospital bed. She was pale, her blonde hair thinned out and she was barely breathing. With every breath, Ace was afraid that it would be her last. But maybe that would be better. She had suffered enough._

_But she was still holding on._

_Waiting for that bastard, even though she knew he wouldn't come. The doctor had given her a month to live, yet seven weeks later, she was still here. Holding on._

_"Ace." She whispered to her six year old son. "My beautiful little boy...good night."_

_"Good night mother." Ace said quietly. "You should sleep too."_

_She smiled weakly. "I'll stay up a little longer. You know he always comes at night."_

_'He hasn't come in over eight months.' Ace wanted to say. 'He abandoned us.' But he bit his tounge._

_"Sleep. I promise I'll wake you up if.... when Roger gets here." He said instead._

_"He's your father Ace." She said in as stern a voice as she could muster._

_"Do you still love him? Even after everything?" The boy asked quietly._

_"Of course." His mother answered without hesitation. "Love is about giving, Ace. You give your heart to someone, and in turn, you get theirs._ _It's_ _about having the same heart, even when_ _you're_ _apart." Rouge smiled. "The people who love you, always remain in your heart."_

 _That all sounded beautiful, but as far as Ace knew, Roger always seemed to make his mother more sad_ _than_ _happy._

_*_

_Roger_ _arrived_ _at_ _the_ _hospital 3 hours after Rouge died._ _Ace_ _was angry and he cursed at his father and cried because he loved his mother and this was the only person he had left in the world._

_This unreliable asshole that his mother had loved but who was always late._

_"She waited for you!" Ace_ _screamed_ _at his father. "She waited and waited, she was in so much pain but she wouldn't allow herself to die because she wanted to see you before she died! You still didn't make it in time."_

_"I'm sorry, when I heard that she was sick-"_

_"What? Was there some important bank somewhere that you just had to rob? You did nothing for her, like always!" He said angrily. "You're never there when she needs you! Never! Mother deserved so much better."_

_Roger looked down in defeat, "Yes, I agree with that much. She_ _deserved_ _a lot better than a_ _criminal_ _who could only come and see her after she was dead._ _So_ _do_ _you."_

_"What are you saying? What are you going to do with me?"_

_"There's an orphanage at the church nearby." Roger said._

_"_ _Mother's_ _body is not even cold yet and you are already abandoning me?" Ace asked, his heart breaking. "You are just going to leave me behind,_ _just_ _after I lost my mother?"_

 _"I can't take you with me where_ _I'm_ _going._ _It's_ _not_ _a place for children."_

 _Hurt was replaced by anger. "Alright, just dump me at the_ _fucking_ _orphanage and just leave me there."_

 _"_ _I'm_ _doing this for you, you are a child."_

 _"Whatever. Once_ _I'm_ _there_ _,_ _don't_ _contact me ever again. You and I will sever our ties on the day that we bury mother." Ace said._

 _"I_ _won't contact you then if it is what you want_ _."_

 _And he_ _didn't_ _. Not until the time when he was about to die_.

***

As expected, the week that follows is a long one for Ace. First of all, he can't seem to get what Sabo said to him out of his mind, and he tries to think of possible explanations for those words. No matter how much he thinks to himself that it is only because Sabo was sick or because he thought Ace were someone else, it strikes him that Sabo definitely said his name.

Combining that with his encounter with Kid, Ace is not stupid, he knows what the most logical explanation is. And that is where the problem lies. 

Because he's been thinking about it, the only explanation that makes sense is that the person that Sabo is in love with could very well be him. Ace has considered many possible candidates over the years, but he has never actually considered himself a candidate.

That is preposterous, right? If Sabo felt that way about him he would have told him, no question. They don't keep secrets from each other. If he did so, Ace doesn't know how to feel about it.

Besides that, there's the fact that he is probably just jumping into conclusions. In order to prove to himself that he has been working too hard and this is just paranoia, Ace takes the time to observe Sabo and and how he acts around him.

He does not notice anything suspicious right away. He supposes that if he really has been keeping the secret for years, he has probably gotten quite good at hiding it.

Now, Ace is by no means someone who enjoys invading other people's privacy but this is an exception and he can't take it anymore. Therefore on Thursday evening after work, before Sabo comes home from meeting his editor, Ace sneaks into Sabo's workroom.

Ace has no idea what he hopes to find in the room but he looks around and he makes sure not to move anything because Sabo is a neat freak and he'll know if his stuff has been touched. First, he looks around at all the files in Sabo's bookshelf, all of them filled with drawings. There are a ton of Sabo's favourite manga collections on the one of the bookshelves as well as books that he reads. He does his best to make sure he puts everything back where it was so Sabo won't be able to tell that his stuff was touched.

He does not find anything until he notices that at the very back of the room, behind the shelves there are some boxes down there, labelled 'Old and Discarded Drawings'. Ace opens one of the boxes and it's mostly old drawings that Sabo did when he was back in high school. There are things like the stories that he drew for Luffy and sketches of characters that he never used. Ace checks out a couple more boxes and it's basically the same thing and he almost doesn't open the third one.

But when he does open it, he loses his mind.

Inside that box at the very top are discarded drawings like all the others, however the last three quarters of the box are all drawings of Ace. All of them. He didn't actually expect to find anything incriminating, if anything he has been hoping for the opposite, but as he pages through all these drawings, he sees that they start from all the way back when Sabo first got here. With simple little drawings of twelve year old Ace, and they get better Sabo grew up and developed his own art style.

They keep going and going and it is insane how many of them there are, all in this discarded box. Even though he is looking at himself, Ace feels like he is reading Sabo's diary, how he sees him. The most recent drawing on there is one of Ace sleeping in the living room. It looks like it was drawn just after Sabo came back to the house. Ace is speechless and he picks up the drawing and looks at it.

No doubt about it, this definitely means something.

"What are you snooping around in here for?" Ace startles and closes the box quickly, turning around to see Luffy standing in front of the door to the room.

He heaves a huge sigh of relief that it's not Sabo who caught him.

"Nothing." He says a little too quickly, and even Luffy catches on to that he's doing something he's not supposed to.

"Sabo always gets mad when I borrow his manga without telling him. You shouldn't do that Ace, that's not nice." Getting a disapproving look from Luffy who is clearly here to 'borrow' one of Sabo's manga is quite annoying for Ace.

"That's not it. I wasn't snooping, I was..." But Ace is still pretty flustered from the stuff that he just saw, and he doesn't really have a coherent enough mind to come up with a good story.

Luffy stands there, arms crossed and looks smug to have something to hold over Ace's head (it's hard to tell though because he is busy picking his nose). "I bet Sabo's gonna be pretty mad if I tell him about this."

"What do you want?"

Luffy smiles happily.

"I'm not buying you a ship." Ace clarifies.

"How did you know I was gonna ask that? Oh well, what about this, the truth is me and Ussop and Nami wanted to go to Grand Tesoro Hotel and Casino this weekend." Luffy gives him hopeful eyes.

Ace sighs, "How much do you need?"

"A lot!" Luffy grins widely.

"Fine. I'll give you however much you want," Ace grits his teeth. "Just don't say anything to Sabo. If you do... I'll take your credit card."

"Huuuuuuh? Hmm..." Luffy considers. "Okay, fine."

Ace really hopes Luffy can keep his promise.

He must really want to go to the casino because he actually doesn't say anything to Sabo that night at dinner. Ace watches closely for any sign of a slip up but he doesn't slip up at all. If anything he seems happy to talk about going to the casino, telling Sabo that he's going to have a lot of fun there and make a lot of money because he's lucky.

Ace is grateful to Luffy for all the conversation because he is freaking out inside. He keeps casting glances at Sabo, which he hopes go unnoticed because Luffy is drawing all the attention from him. He really really needs a break.

The following day on Friday Ace goes through half an entire pack of cigarettes. It will make Sabo mad, but who cares since this is his fault. Finally, Ace knows that he needs to talk to someone about this otherwise it's going to eat him up.

***

"What is it?" Law asks Ace that night when he finds him seated at the back of Makino's bar. "It's unlike you to drink so much at the start of the night."

"If I don't stay drunk, I start thinking of useless things." Ace sighs opening up another can of beer.

"You sounded freaked out on the phone, so I thought maybe it was something serious." Law sits down across from him.

"I just wanted to hang out." Ace lies.

"Ace."

"It's true, I'm single, so I just want you to be my wingman," He forces a smile. "Seeing that guy over there? Do you think I should buy him a drink?"

Law frowns, "Seriously, come on, tell me what's wrong."

Sighing, Ace pulls out the drawing of him that Sabo made, and shows it to Law. "What do you think?"

"I think whoever drew this made you look a lot more good looking than you actually are." He comments.

"What? No, that's pretty accurate. That's not why I'm asking, anyway." Ace crosses his arms.

"I don't know Ace, do you have a stalker or something? Was someone watching you sleep and sent this as a gift from a secret admirer?" Law asks. "Maybe it's someone in denial, I mean it looks like they tried to tear it up first."

"You think so too, don't you? I'm not overthinking things then?"

"What's this, do you actually have a stalker?" Law looks up in concern as Ace finishes up the can of beer he is currently drinking.

"No," Ace sighs, and orders another six pack of beer. "I think that Sabo has feelings for me."

"Huh?" A rare look of surprise appears on Law's face. "Sabo? Wait... are you saying Sabo drew this?" He looks at the drawing again. "You're right, it is similar to his style, but... Oh man, I can see why you're drinking."

Law helps himself to one of Ace's newly arrived beers.

"What am I going to do if it's true? I'm at a loss." Ace sighs.

"Wait, calm down, first confirm if it true. Then you can worry." Law suggests. "Just ask him."

"No fucking way, what if I'm wrong? I do not wanna open that can of worms." He refuses.

"Okaaay. What about asking someone else who knows?"

"Off the top of my head, I can only think of Kid and Koala. Kid won't tell me shit," He states. "And I don't think I'd want to hear it from anyone but Sabo."

"So, you do want to hear it from Sabo?" Law inquires.

"That's not what I meant and you know it." Ace sighs looking at the drink in front of him. "I'm just not good with this kind of feelings stuff."

Law snorts, "I'm not either, I mean hello, you and I met at an orphanage. But, we grew past that, we both got adopted."

" _You_ got adopted. I ran away and met an old man who dragged me to his house." Ace points out. "The problem is that I don't know how to feel about this, Law."

"Let's simplify this, what do you think of Sabo?"

"Huh?"

"Romantically."

"That's..." Ace hesitates.  "I've never thought of him that way. He was the first real friend I ever had, when I met him he was hurt, and you know how I am, I wanted to protect him." He sighs. "Even though he's stronger and older now, I just always thought of him as my little brother who needed protection."

"Hmm," Law says thoughtfully. "Well then what about this, you've never felt any type of way about the people he's dated?"

"The only serious relationship he's ever had was with Kid. I'm not a big fan of the guy, I don't think he's good enough for Sabo." Ace says.

Law raises his eyebrows.

"Don't look at me like that, that doesn't mean anything." Ace defends himself, "I don't think anyone's good enough for Luffy either."

"Is that so? Not even me?" Law smirks.

Ace considers this. "We are not talking about you, we're talking about me."

"Fine," He laughs, "I just think that you should give love a chance. If Sabo makes a move on you, let him. See how it makes you feel."

"I can't even imagine that."

"You can't, huh? Think of it this way. If you'd never met Sabo before, and he was sitting right over there tonight," Law says pointing to an empty chair. "And you were as single as you are now... would you go up to him, trying to get him to come home with you?"

Ace is a little drunk, so he actually considers this scenario. He conjures up an image of Sabo sitting there on the chair by himself, looking absent minded as always and Ace would sit and watch him for a while. From his imagination he thinks Sabo does look good. He would probably buy him a drink and then Sabo would frown and turn to look at Ace who would smile at him. Sabo gets embarrassed easily, so he would probably smile back while blushing, which Ace would think was cute, and he would walk over to try and talk to him.

Ace shakes his head. He really should not think about this while drunk and recently having been dumped.

"Wow, looks like somebody just had a good dream in his head." Law laughs.

"That's not... I mean look I admit it, Sabo's.... _hot_.... and yeah, I would take him home with me definitely...but that's not what Sabo wants." Ace says wishing Law had asked him this while he was sober. "Guys like him are dangerous, they're the type that make you want to change. I don't want that."

Ace decides to spend the rest of the night drinking to keep the thoughts out of his head, until Law calls a cab and goes with him to make sure he arrives home safely.

***  
Sabo is serious this time. It's not like all the other times that he told himself that he was going to confess his feelings to Ace. This time he means it and this time he's going to go through with it. He does notice that Ace looks at him a lot more than usual this week. He plans everything out the entire week and he decides that he's going to do it during the weekend. It is the best time. Now he has to find a way to make sure that Luffy is not at home during that time.

Luckily for Sabo, however, before he can come up with something to distract the boy, Luffy announces on Thursday night at dinner that he's going to Grand Tesoro with his friends to gamble. It is a happy coincidence, and Sabo listens to him talking about everything because he's glad that this happened. He takes it as a sign from the universe that the time is now and he should stop dily dalying and just tell Ace the truth.

It has been years after all, he can't hide it forever.

In fact, Sabo is so glad about the fact that Luffy decided to choose this weekend to go out with his friends that he doesn't scold him for the fact that he was clearly in his room and touched his files and his manga. He decides to let it slide this time. Sabo fails to check the boxes at the back of the bookshelves, it never occurrs to him. If he had checked, he might have noticed that there is a certain drawing of his missing.

So on Friday night, after he's done with his work, he cleans up the house now that Luffy left. He makes Ace's favourite food. He sits down and rehearses how to say everything in the living room. He sits down there ready to tell the truth but Ace doesn't come home straight after work.

Sabo wonders if he's out with someone. Ace just got out of a 'relationship' so he is back on the market again and he rarely ever wastes any time before jumping on to the next person.

He decides he doesn't care if Ace brings his next conquest here, Sabo will just throw him or her out and force Ace to sit down and listen to what he has to say. Wallowing in self-pity, Sabo eats all the food he made, thinking Ace really did pick someone up at some bar somewhere and is probably sleeping at some hotel or some other person's house. He grimly stares up at the ceiling when there's a knock on the door before sighing and opening the door.

It's Law, and hanging onto his shoulder is a clearly very wasted Ace. Law gives Sabo a very curious look but doesn't say anything other than, "Here, he got way too drunk. I had to make sure he got home safely."

"Thank you." Sabo says taking the sleeping man from Law. Ace doesn't usually drink to the point that he can barely walk, so it must be that something's wrong.

"Did he tell you what is wrong with him? He doesn't usually drink this much." Sabo asks.

Law looks anywhere but at Sabo. "Well, yeah, but I'm sure you'll find out soon enough. Anyway, he's all yours." Law says turning away. "Literally."

Sabo raises his eyebrows, not understanding what the doctor's saying. "See ya around." He says and he leaves.

Sabo sighs, it looks like he's not going to get to tell Ace the truth today. As he carries Ace to sleep in his room, Sabo feels both relieved and disappointed that he did not get to tell Ace.

~  
The following day appears to be no good either. First, Ace wakes up late and when he finally gets done eating, he casts an angry look at Sabo as though accusing him if something.  But to his knowledge, Sabo hasn't done anything so he assumes that Ace must be in a bad mood.

Late in the afternoon, Sabo has had enough of the silent treatment and, while watching him from the living room, decides to confront Ace as he drinks and energy drink in the kitchen.

"Ace, I know something's wrong, you know you  can tell me anything, right?" He asks.

Ace almost throws down the bottle. "Shouldn't that go both ways?"

"Ace, what are you-" Sabo starts but then stops when Ace suddenly falls onto the floor dropping his water. Sabo rushes up to him, to the kitchen, to find him seated down there, unable to move.

Sabo recognises it instantly, of course, but he has not seen this symptom in Ace in at least four years.

"Shit!" Ace swears as Sabo helps him up.

"Cataplexy? Ace, did you take your medication today?" Sabo asks.

"I forgot." He says yanking his arm away from Sabo as he starts to be able to move again.

"You haven't had a cataplexy attack in years, you should take it easy." Sabo says in concern.

"I bet you know the date and the time of it, don't ya? You're always watching, right?!" Ace snaps irritably before he can stop himself.

"What?"

"Forget it."

"No. You've been snippy all day, no, in fact you've been acting weird all week!" Sabo shouts.

He really notices everything. It passes Ace off. "It's none of your business!"

"It's my business if you are so stressed out that you're forgetting to take your medicine!"

"And whose fault do you think..." Ace has had enough. "Come to the gymn. Spar with me."

"What? You just had a-"

"I know, I need to stretch my muscles after that cataplexy shit." Ace says. 'No, I just want to hit you.' He adds to himself.

Ace takes off his shirt and gets into the gym, and Sabo follows behind him in a vest, a towel hanging on his neck. Ace throws him two boxing gloves, and puts some on himself.

If this is the best way to communicate his frustration, anger and confusion to Sabo, Ace will not hold back, he knows Sabo can take it. He immediately starts with throwing a straight right punch, going all out.

Although he is not expecting such power from the first strike, Sabo's reflexes are good enough that he is able to dodge it in the nick of time. "What the hell, Ace? I thought we were sparring! But you were serious just now. You went for my eyes!" Sabo says angrily. "Are you trying to blind me?"

"Yes I am. In fact you better fight me for real, as if I'm trying to kill you, because I am!" Ace comes with a hook aiming for his face again, and Sabo blocks the attack.

"Why?!" He is confused and doesn't understand why Ace is doing this.

"Because you lied to me! For years!" Ace replies amidst an angry flurry of fast jabs that Sabo can barely block by keeping his arms in front of his face the entire time.

"I didn't lie to you about anything!"

"If that's the case, then tell me who it is, the person that you're in love with" Ace says as he continues his attack.

Sabo lets down his guard because of the question taking him by surprise, and two quick punches land on his face. He can feel himself bleeding from the nose, but thankfully nothing is broken. Not on the outside. As Sabo steps out of reach from more of Ace's attacks, he wipes the blood from his nose with the towel on his neck. He can't help but wonder why Ace is bringing this up now of all times.

Ace is relentless, not giving Sabo a chance to catch his breath. But Sabo needs to think, and he can't do that with an angry person gunning for him, so he goes low, and cuts in under Ace's attack, punching him in the gut, making him fall back.

Sabo catches his breath as Ace tries to get back to form. His nose has stopped bleeding, and he throws the towel to the ground. He recognises that this is not just Ace being impulsive. It's a real fight, something they haven't done since they were teenagers. What is with Ace's sudden violent streak? He only gets like this when something big is bothering him. Curiosity does not seem to be the cause.

Sabo pulls out a cross counter against Ace's next hook, but Ace turns his face so that it grazes his cheek, drawing blood.

"Why are you suddenly so curious about this? It's none of your concern!" Sabo says in between breaths.

This blatant lie makes Ace, if possible, angrier. "You don't think I deserve to know? I am your _brother_ after all, right? What's the harm in telling me?" Ace shouts, his left fist coming up from below.

As he backs away from the oncoming uppercut, a non physical blow strikes Sabo. Ace knows. He found out on his own. He is angry that Sabo lied to him for years. He knows. After years of practice, carefully hiding his feelings for Ace he got discovered. That is the only explanation that makes sense. Sabo tries to breathe but fear strikes him and he stumbles.

What should he do about this? Should he just let Ace hit him to take out his frustration? No, what he really wants is to see past Ace's anger... how knowing about Sabo's feelings makes him feel.

"Well?! Who is it?" Ace asks.

It goes on for a while, Ace demanding an answer and Sabo unable to give it. Both of them have bruises now but Sabo does not care about that. If Ace already knows, isn't the time ripe to let all his feelings out? His next right hits Ace on the chin and he falls down on the mat, next to the wall.

Ace sits up, balancing against the wall, and Sabo crouches down in front of him breathing heavily.

"Who is it?" The eyes with which Ace looks at him are fierce, angry and Sabo understands. It is a testament to Ace's strength that he has only one bruise on his face, a scratch on his cheek from when he dodged Sabo's punch earlier.

Sabo raises his hand, and Ace flinches at first because he thinks that he is going to hit him but Sabo gently touches the scratch on his face, and looks at him. Anger dissipates from Ace's face and is instead replaced with uncertainty at Sabo's expression.

"If it's you, what will you do?" Sabo asks quietly.

"I don't know." Ace replies honestly.

This could be the only chance Sabo gets to do this. The only chance he gets Ace to listen to him... but he finds that no matter how much he rehearses the words in his head, they don't seem to want to come out of his mouth.

In that case, he just has to show Ace that it's him.

Sabo is barely able to contain his heart in his chest, the damn thing wants to break free from him today. It beats and thunders furiously, sending ripples of warmth throughout his body as he brings his face closer to Ace's.

It's pretty clear what Sabo wants to do, and Ace isn't sure whether to just turn his face away or just kick Sabo in the gut. He opts instead, to take Law's advice for now, and close his eyes. He will admit, that he is curious of how it will make him feel.

Sabo presses his lips onto Ace's. There is the initial chill that runs through Sabo's body at the contact like a sudden jolt, a surge of electricity just struck him senseless. His grip on Ace tightens, wanting to feel more of him, to absorb more of that intoxicating feeling for himself.

To Ace, the kiss is surprisingly alluring, more seductive than he had imagined Sabo would be. _Not that he had imagined it, of course._ He certainly expected him to be passionate, but not to this extent. The enerstness of the feelings that Sabo seems intent on showing him stir something inside of Ace, and he is suddenly afraid.

He has to stop this.

Ace knees him in the abdomen, and Sabo falls back, clutching his belly. Ace stands up, heavily scowling. "If that's how you felt, you should have told me a long time ago."

Sabo grits his teeth and stands up again. "You don't think I wanted to? Do you think this is easy for me?" He throws a punch at Ace's face, cursing the burn that he can still feel on his lips from their kiss.

Ace lets himself get hit. This way, his eyes become unfocused and he feels like his brain reboots for a second. He doesn't have to think. Because he knows why Sabo held off on telling him for so long. So he just says whatever comes to his mind. "Yeah, you're just a coward!"

It fucking burns. Ace is still being cold, even now, it frustrates Sabo to a point where he shouts back, "A coward? Really? Should I tell you the main reason I didn't say anything? Should I?"

"Shut up! I know why. I know why..." Ace steps away and covers his face with his hands. "You didn't want me to push you away."

He turns away and walks into the bathroom.

Sabo watches him go without saying anything, and wondering how much longer he will have to stare at Ace's back, he leaves the gym as well. He locks the door behind him in his workroom and takes a deep breath. He hasn't had a fight like that with Ace in years. He admits to himself that he's glad that Ace found out on his own, so he won't freak out as much as he feared.

Sabo splashes water on his face inside his bathroom, looks at the mirror and touches the lips that, moments ago, were locked onto Ace's. He doesn't know whether to be happy that he finally kissed him after fantasising about it for years, or to be sad because he made Ace angry.

It surprises him a little, but his heart feels lighter, and he is relieved that he does not have to lie to Ace anymore, but he is still worried about how this will change their relationship. Before Ace rejects him, Sabo decides to be selfish for once, and burden Ace with the words that he's been holding in for years now.

***

Sabo takes the first aid kit, and knocks on Ace's room. There is no answer.

"I'm coming in." Sabo says, and does not receive an answer this time either. He opens the door and goes inside to see Ace sitting on his bed, determinedly not turning to look at him.

Sabo sighs, and puts the first aid kit on the bed before he kneels in front of him, feeling Ace stiffen slightly. Sabo turns Ace to face him, and dabs the antiseptic on the scratch on his cheek, making him wince slightly.

"The last one was a clean hit, I didn't break your nose did I?" Sabo asked, putting a band-aid over the scratch.

"No, you didn't hit me that hard," Ace says finally looking him in the face. "At least, not physically."

Sabo stands up, and sits next to Ace on the bed. "Can we talk?"

" _Now_ you wanna talk?" Ace can't help but snap.

"How did you find out?" Sabo asks.

"Lots of different things. I guess you got careless being away from me for a year." Ace tells him. "I confirmed it when I found those drawings of me in your workroom."

"In my... you found those?" Sabo blinks. Well, that was some damning evidence. "I guess it wasn't Luffy who moved my stuff around. I'm sorry, but you still don't know everything."

"What?"

"Yes, I owe you that much. You already know how I feel, but I still wanna be the one to tell you. Will you hear me out?" Sabo asks.

Ace _knows_ exactly what he is going to say. It is the three words that he has never allowed anyone to say to him before. Whenever he senses that someone he was with was catching feelings, Ace was cold and pushed them away _before_ they said those words, he never wanted to hear it. And Sabo knows this, which is why he is giving him an out. Giving Ace the option to push him away before he says those words. But this is Sabo. It's not someone that Ace can just push away because he caught feelings for him.

No matter how much he fears those words, Ace has the decency to at least let Sabo tell him how he feels.

"Tell me." Ace's hands tremble and he holds them together. Dammit. Why is he such a coward? It's just words, they won't kill him.

Sabo hesitates because Ace is looking down, and he is shaking as if someone is pointing a gun at him. "Are you sure?"

Ace takes a deep breath, and looks up at him, nodding his head.

Sabo takes Ace's shaking hands in his own, that's right, he needs to be selfish now. He wonders if the increased beating of his heart is further propagated by the trembling of Ace's hands. He needs to say it. And for once in his life, Ace needs to hear it.

The least Sabo can do is to deliver it with no hesitation, no doubts and absolute confidence. So he looks into those fearful black eyes, and as tenderly as possible, he says it.

"I love you, Ace."

Ace lets out a breath that he doesn't know he's been holding. A foreign kind of heat engulfs him, somewhere in his chest and he suddenly can't breathe normally. A uneasy bug settles in his heart because he does not know what to do about this. But at the same time he is drunk on the euphoric feeling that flows throw his entire body at hearing those words, almost out of his control.

Is this what it feels like to be loved? If it is, he can see why his mother was willing to lose so much for it.

"Are you okay?" Sabo asks when all Ace does is breath heavily and place his hand over his heart.

"Water." Ace says the first thing that comes to mind.

"Yeah," Sabo stands up quickly and rushes to the kitchen, giving Ace a chance to catch his breath. When he returns with the bottle, Ace drinks the entire thing at once.

"How long have you felt that way?" Ace asks, almost afraid of the answer.

Sabo sits down next to him, not too close, he observes.

"I honestly don't know. It's hard to pinpoint an exact moment that I can say was the cause." Sabo says. "I guess I always admired your strength for one. I was weak, and because of my scar, I got bullied at school. You protected me, but even more important than that, you taught me how to defend myself."

As Ace looks at him, Sabo has a fond, faraway look in his eye as he recalls the memories. He looks slightly sad. "I felt invisible to my parents, so I struggled a lot with my self confidence, but you taught me that I should stand up for myself, and I gained a little more confidence in me. Although," He chuckles a little, "I did get into trouble at school because I got too strong and beat the crap out of my bullies. Anyway, my point is, because of you, I was able to stop hurting myself... physically at least."

It seems like forever ago now, but Ace remembers Sabo's struggles well, he remembers everything. The day that he found Sabo's wrist bandaged, how awful he felt when he realised what happened, Sabo begging him not to tell Garp because he did not want him to worry.

Ace had been scared, for the first time worrying about someone else's life. _"Promise me! Promise me that_ _you'll_ _never do it again!" Ac_ e begged him to make that promise, and Sabo did.

"I'm sure that I was already in love with you by the time we started high school. I watched you battle your own demons then, when your fa-... when Roger died, trying to act out against the world." He says, finally looking up at Ace. "I tried my best to help you like you did for me. I wanted to help you, so that you would not get consumed by the violence."

"You did. You were a great help." Ace tells him honestly.

A genuine smile finds itself onto Sabo's face. Now that he's looking for it, Ace can see that he looks beautiful when he smiles. He shakes his head to clear the thought from his mind.

"Then that's good. For me, I was happy just watching you, staying by your side as your brother... until I wasn't. I wanted more, and I knew you couldn't give it to me. So, I left... I thought if I could get used to the pain of being without you, then I would be able to stay next to you. So, how long have I been in love with you? I don't know, but ever since I met you, you've been the most special person to me. " Sabo concludes.

"That doesn't make any sense... but that kind of logic is just like you. Putting all the burden on yourself instead of blaming me." Ace bows his head. "I'm sorry that I hurt you."

"It's not your fault. I just lacked courage."

"You're too nice, even though I was so cold to you." Ace stands up.

"Are you leaving?" Sabo asks looking up at him, fear coming back into his heart.

"Yes. Thank you for telling me everything. I just need some air." Ace states bluntly, but he sighs when he sees a look of panic on Sabo's face. "I'm not trying to put distance between us. You just dropped a bomb on me, I need to think."

Of course Ace needs to think. Sabo wonders what kind of answer he will come up with. When Ace returns, will he bring him happiness or pain? Maybe just telling him is enough, maybe Sabo doesn't need answer. Should he just leave the house before Ace comes back? Go somewhere else, where Ace's words won't hurt him?

"I know what you're thinking, but don't. Don't go anywhere." Ace places his hands on Sabo's shoulders and looks him in the eye. "I promise I'll be back, so don't leave, okay?"

Unable to speak, Sabo only nods. If Ace says to stay, then he will wait right here for him.

***  
Once outside, Ace loses his balance and falls to the ground. It's not cataplexy this time. Inside, he'd held his own, acting fine to allow Sabo to be honest and vulnerable in front of him. But now that he's alone, he can try to process it.

Sabo is in love with him.

Sabo is in love with him.

Sabo is in love with him.

It is overwhelming, and the more he thinks about it, he feels a swell in his heart, and he smiles as he stands up. But then he stops. Is he happy about this? Or is it a natural reaction to finding out someone is in love with you? Ace doesn't know, he has nothing to reference it to.

But with that unfamiliar feeling, is a slight dread in his heart because he will admit that Sabo's feelings are a heavy load in his heart that he has no idea how to carry. Still, for all the years that he's hurt Sabo by being oblivious, by (Ace cringes again with a sinking feeling) making Sabo deal with getting rid of his one night stands, he has to take at least half of the responsibility for his feelings.

He walks out onto the evening road, unable walk steadily or think clearly, really, the only clear thought he has is that he doesn't know what to do. He has tried all week to see Sabo in a different light, and while he can admit that, yes, Sabo is pretty damn attractive, it doesn't mean that he likes him as more than a friend.

Sabo is sincere in his feelings, and he has harboured them for years, it would be an insult for Ace to half heartedly decide to get together with him just because he's hot. That is not what Sabo wants, and heaven knows Ace has hurt him enough already, he definitely won't do something like that.

Ace wanders about at night, on foot. He considers calling Law, but he doesn't really know what he would say to him. He sighs. This is not something he can talk to someone about. Should he have put a lid on his curiosity, and not chased for any answers to Sabo's behaviour? He feels like he has complicated things somehow.

Perhaps he should not have listened to Sabo's confession, maybe then he would not be as confused as he is now. The night is dark, as is Ace's demeanour as he walks under the streetlights. He left home without taking his medication, the tablets are in his pocket, but at this point, he would like nothing more than to just collapse on the road right now and forget everything.

But he can't.

Sabo would worry.

Instead, he hails a cab, going to one place where he knows he will receive advice.

It is already past nine when he arrives at the mansion. He uses his security key card to get in, and the people standing guard outside bow to him as soon as they recognise him. Marco raises his eyebrows when Ace comes into the house.

"A bit late for a visit, don't you think?" He says.

"I know," Ace sighs. "But, I need to see Pops. Is he still awake?"

"Yeah. I just started the infusion a few minutes ago, he'll be asleep soon though." Marco says. "So don't stay too long, okay?"

Ace nods, and makes his way to the main bedroom. "Pops? It's Ace, can I come in?" He knocks.

"Ace? Yeah, come on in."

The old man is sitting on the bed, one IV line on his arm, he is reading a book, which he puts down promptly when Ace comes in. He sits down on the chair next to the bed, and Ace sighs.

"How are you feeling? How's your heart?" He asks, looking up at the old man.

"I'm fine. I've weathered greater storms than this." Pops dismisses the question like it's nothing. "I don't get why Marco won't let me have more than one drink a day."

Marco used to be an army doctor, after he left, he started taking care of Pops as his personal doctor, and has been with him the longest. When he decided to retire, he left Marco in charge of Whitebeard Security because he trusted him the most out of everyone. Even though he doesn't practice anymore, Marco is still Pops' personal physician and is very strict with him about his diet.

"Well, I feel you, Pops. Sabo won't let me smoke to my heart's content either." Ace says, and speaking of Sabo, his face sombers.

"Your face looks unsettled, son? Is something the matter?" Newgate asks.

Ace hesitates. "I just... I need a place to sleep tonight."

"I see, well, you're always welcome here. Did you have a fight with your brothers?"

This is a family matter, and Ace came here for advice because no one understands family more than this man. It's not like he can go to Dragon with this, the thought makes his skin crawl.

"Someone told me that he is in love with me." Ace says, looking down.

Newgate turns to him instantly in surprise. "And you let him tell you? You actually listened?"

"Only because it was Sabo. I don't think I would have if it was anyone else. Pops, I don't know what to do." Ace is troubled.

"Oh, so that's what happened. No wonder you look like that. Isn't it obvious what you need to do? Give him a response."

"I've never had to give anyone an answer before," Ace looks down. "I don't know what to say to him."

Newgate raises the arm that has no needles on it and places his hand on Ace's chest. "This, son. This will tell you how you feel, and what you need to say. Just listen to your heart, and a path will be open for you. I guarantee it."

"I.... what if my response is not the one he wants to hear?"

"Listen, Ace. You care about Sabo a lot, don't you?" He asks. "If you want to give a rejection, then you better do it as soon as possible. That's what's best for him. You need to free him from those feelings."

"Even if it means hurting him?" Ace asks, unsure if he wants to accept or reject Sabo's feelings for him.

"Even if it means hurting him." Newgate repeats Ace's words. "That way, he can start healing, moving on."

That sounds reasonable. A knot in Ace's chest that he has been nursing since this whole thing began, starts to loosen. That's right, whatever answer he decides to give, Sabo needs to hear it in order to move on.

Pops yawns wearily, and Ace gets up, to help him lie down. "Thank you for your advice, Pops. I'm really grateful." He says.

The old man smiles. "Just think about it. I think it's good for you to let a little more love into your life."

Ace bids him goodnight, and goes to the guestroom to sleep. He has a lot more thinking to do.

***  
Sabo can't sleep all night. A part of him really wants to leave, go somewhere else, anywhere else. He knows how cold Ace can be with his words, and he expects rejection to sting. And after that, what will happen? Will they be able to go back to being friends, being brothers? Is that possible?

The whole reason why he went back to his parents' house was to prepare himself for this, to see if he could live without Ace. He couldn't.

He stands up from the bed and walks over to his drawing table. He picks up a pencil and starts sketching again, he doesn't know what it is he is drawing, but as he progresses further, he realises that of course, it's Ace. Drawing Ace from memory is easy, almost natural for him. And today, he draws him as he saw him after their fight, a few bruises on his face, and a scratch on his cheek. As always, he doesn't feel like he captures Ace quite right. The sketch can barely compare to the real thing.

Sabo sighs, and removes the page. Instead, he takes out his tablet and begins working on the storyboard for the next chapter. He falls asleep there, finally and dreams of Ace.

~

It is late in the morning when Ace comes home. He's relieved to see that Sabo's car is still outside, which means that he did not run away. That's good, it means he can tell him everything that he has been thinking about all night. Ace's stomach lurches, and his heart heaves, and he wonders if he made the right decision.

Ace opens the door to find Sabo in the living room, watching TV. The other man sits up and watches him come in with an unsure look in his eye.

"Hey," Ace says awkwardly.

"Hey." Sabo responds. "Did you stay at Newgate's?"

"Yeah, I had an interesting conversation with Pops last night." Ace says approaching the couch.

Sabo's face is calm, contrary to the unstable beating of his heart. He wants to say something, anything to delay the inevitable rejection. "How is he doing?" He asks as Ace sits down next to him.

"You know, same as always." Ace says. Sabo appears to be trying to mask the fact that he is afraid by fidgeting with the remote but Ace can read him like a book. "Sabo."

Sabo's heart tightens at Ace saying his name like that, as if someone is squeezing it inside of him. He stands up abruptly. "Are you hungry? I'll make some-"

"Sit."

That's all that Ace says but like a trained dog, Sabo obeys and sits there, looking down. "Have you had enough time to think?" He asks.

"Yeah."

Today it is Sabo's turn to have trembling hands, and they are sweating as well. It is fine, he tells himself. Last night he forced Ace out of his comfort zone to listen to him, now he has to be brave enough to listen to Ace's words, however heartbreaking they are.

"You know the kind of person that I am, I have never wanted to fall in love with anyone in my life and that's because I saw how much my mother suffered because she loved that bastard." Ace says. "I thought to myself, if love is just about giving your heart to someone, only for them to one day throw it away and leave you behind, then I want no part of it."

Sabo looks up at Ace's face as he continues talking.

"If people were always going to abandon me, then it was better for me to push them away first." Ace says. "There are only a few exceptions to the rule, the old man, you, Luffy and all my friends and everybody at Whitebeard Security. Everybody else was not worth getting attached to."

Sabo knows this much. He knows Ace as well as he knows himself. It sounds like Ace is emphasing all this in order to let him down gently.

"But I'm insecure, even with you guys, it's always better that you need me, I want people to be attached to me, so they don't leave. I'm a hypocrite, aren't I?" He says, facing down. "I want others to need me, but I don't want to depend on them or their affections."

"Ace..."

"This is so hard because it's you. If it was anyone else, I'd tell them to get lost because I wouldn't have allowed myself to get attached to them anyway." Ace says. "Because it's you... I couldn't just push you away like everyone else. So I tried, Sabo. All week I tried to see if it was possible for me to look at you that way. I really did... but..."

Here it comes, Sabo clenches his fists. The pressure inside his heart is constricting his lungs and he feels like he is about to get stabbed in the chest. It hurts. But he has to hear it.

"Tell me."

"I thought about it... and I don't feel the same way about you-" Ace starts.

Sabo's face falls. It's okay, he tells himself. He is prepared for rejection. But his heart sinks so far down that he thinks he's going to stop breathing. He almost doesn't hear what Ace continues to say.

"- but, I think I can learn to do it."

Sabo perks up immediately at that, his heart leaping again. He hates how easily he fills with hope in that moment. "What do you mean?"

"You don't get it? If it was anyone else, I'd tell them to get lost, I wouldn't give them the time of day. But if it's you.... then it's okay." Ace's cheeks are slightly red. "I accept your feelings, Sabo, I'll let you love me."

Sabo blinks, and stares, eyes almost burning with tears of joy. "Ace, you understand what you are saying right?" He can scarcely believe it. Never in his wildest dreams was Aces response like this. "You are saying we can be together?"

"Yes," Ace smiles. "Show me, Sabo, that love that you hold so close to your heart. Make me fall in love with you."

***


	8. I Want Everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ace and Sabo's relationship begins to progress.
> 
> * * *
> 
> _Italics = Character's memories_   
>  __  
>  **Bold + Italics = Sabo's stories.**   
> 
> 
> * * *
> 
> "And I've always lived like this  
> Keeping a comfortable, distance  
> And up until now  
> I had sworn to myself that I'm  
> Content with loneliness  
> Because none of it was ever worth the risk  
> Well, You are the only exception.."
> 
> -Paramore (The Only Exception)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry guys, I know that this chapter is extremely late, but I made for it because it's like 10 000 words❤
> 
> xoxo enjoy.

Things are awkward.

Strange.

A new experience for both of them. Sabo knows it's probably his fault that things are so awkward, mainly because he is not exactly sure what kind of step to take first. It is almost unheard of in his relationship with Ace that he would be the one given control, it adds all the more to his nerves. For one thing, he's never had to try and make someone fall in love with him before, and he doesn't know exactly how to go about doing that. He supposes he could take a leap of faith, and dive right in and not be afraid of falling face first and hurting both Ace and himself. In the past, when it came to Ace, he was always at rock bottom inside the pit of misery, but things are different now, now he is at the halfway point between complete misery and pure happiness. He knows he can't stay here, he has to take the leap, and make Ace completely his. To learn the best way forward, Sabo once again uses his characters as templates.

 

  _ **In Sora: Warrior of the Sea, Sora is in the midst of a battle with his brother, trying to get him to see the world through his eyes, trying to overcome all the pain and anger that have turned Axl into a villain in order to release the person he truly is. To open his mind to the beautiful light that exists even in a world as dark as theirs.**_

 

That's right, when Sabo thinks about it like this, not as a way to get what he has desired for years, but as a way to show Ace that love is not all pain, heartbreak and abandonment, to show him that love is a beautiful thing if shared with the right person... Sabo realises that it's not so complicated after all.

 

The next morning, Sabo wakes up earlier than usual, runs Ace's bath for him, and makes him breakfast. He finds it easy, no effort at all, because these are all things that he wanted to do back when he was still just watching Ace. Now he sits there in the kitchen, watching Ace eat before he leaves for work.

 

"Sabo." Ace says, snapping him back to reality.

 

"Hmm? What, do you need more coffee?" He asks.

 

"No, it's just hard to eat with you looking at me like that." Ace tells him.

It is true, Sabo is looking at him with a singular focus, something he never did before. Under that gaze, Ace feels somewhat vulnerable, like Sabo can see everything inside of him. All the insecurity , and how nervous he is about everything... about putting himself in the line of fire, in direct danger of being hurt by love the way his mother was. He doesn't want Sabo to see it, yet he fears that he can see everything.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Sabo scratches his head. "I'm making you uncomfortable, aren't I? It's just... I've held back for so long, maybe I'm coming on too strong?"

"Don't be stupid, I'm not a child." Ace answers. "It's just distracting, being watched like that, but I ...I um... I don't hate it." He mumbles, and stands up quickly to hide the slight reddening of his cheeks from Sabo's perceptive gaze. He gets his briefcase quickly, and turns towards the door, to leave.

But then Sabo's arms wrap around his waist from behind and he can feel him behind him, holding on.

"H-hey..." Ace somehow managed to say.

"Is this uncomfortable for you?" Sabo whispers. "I'm sorry but, let me hold you for a second. You're still as cruel as ever, you know...you can't run away after giving me a reaction that sent my heart pounding, just from me looking at you."

And Ace can feel it, Sabo's heartbeat behind him, and he can't feel his own. It makes him wonder if his has also sped up to match Sabo's beat.

 

This is dangerous.

 

Ace wants to push him away, and speed to the door. But this is Sabo. He has probably wanted to do this for so many years, Ace can't hurt him. After all, Ace is the one who asked for this in a way when he said Sabo should show him what love is like. He can't push him away.

"It's a little uncomfortable, but...I think I can get used to it, because it's you." Ace tells him.

He can feel Sabo smiling behind him. 

"Hey, Ace, you're only working on interviews tomorrow, right? I'll try to finish up on my end too, so," Sabo takes a deep breath, and says the words. "Let's go on a date."

Ah, finally, Ace can feel his heartbeat, quicker than it should be. When was the last time someone asked him on a date? He'd forgotten how it feels. He steps out of Sabo's hold, and turns around to face him, smiling. "Okay, I can't wait."

As Sabo watches Ace leave for work, he catches his breath by sitting down on the chair. Ace's smile is a deadly weapon.

***

"Ace, you just came into work, what's with the frown lines already, huh?" Thatch asks the following day.

Ace snorts, as he sits down on his chair. "More importantly, why are you still here, isn't the night shift over?" 

"What are you talking about? We have a meeting remember? Today we're doing interviews, remember? To see who will take over Teach's position? Hello?" Thatch says snapping his fingers.

"Oh, right." Ace remembers. To be honest his mind has been preoccupied with something else today.

"What is up with you? Come on, you can tell me." Thatch asks.

Ace hesitates. On one hand, Thatch is very likely to give him solid advise, seeing as he has been in more stable relationships than Ace, however on the other hand, he is going to be freely giving away material for Thatch to tease him with.

"Shut up, just give me the list of candidates, okay?" He says and proceeds to snatch the CVs from Thatch. He gets one more curious look before they begin the meeting.

As soon as the meeting is done, Thatch stands up to leave and, in spite of himself, Ace stops him. "Wait... um...just, hypothetically, this has nothing to do with me whatsoever... But um, what would you bring to a first date... like flowers ...I don't know.."

The surprise is palpable on Thatch's face. Whatever he expected Ace to ask, it was not this. "Ace, are you feeling okay?"

"If you're gonna make fun of me, just get lost." Ace hopes that he is not blushing.

"Sorry," Thatch sits back down, "I'm just surprised that's all. But why would you ask me? I'm sure you've been on a lot more dates than me."

"Yeah," Ace nods, "But with those, I pulled all the stops, booked a nice hotel, brought gifts, and generally spent a lot of money because I was trying as best I could to get them into bed...but...well, this person is different."

Thatch observes him for a moment. "Ace, are you serious about this person?"

Serious? Is he? He doesn't know how to answer that. "Well, he is serious about me ... I guess I don't want him to be disappointed." Ace mumbles.

"Wow. I never thought I'd see the day that those words came out of your mouth."

"Hey, stop making fun of-"

"I'm happy for you." He tells him. "First dates are about first impressions, you just need to be yourself, you know...show him who you are. You say he's serious about you, so he probably knows the kind of person that you are and loves you anyway....just be real Ace."

Be real? Ace ponders it for a moment. "Hmph, that's the most useless advice I've ever heard."

"Ungrateful bastard." He snorts. "Anyway, why aren't you pulling all the stops this time? Don't you wanna get this guy into bed?"

"Hah, get him into..." Ace swallows.

It's not like he _hasn't_ thought about it, since this whole thing started. Sleeping with Sabo. Like he hasn't wondered how it would feel like to run his hands up Sabo's body...Sabo is strong and has good endurance from training his body everyday, so Ace knows he can keep up with him. He's seen him doing exercises from time to time, so he knows just how flexible-

"Earth to Ace?" Thatch snaps him back to reality.

"What?"

"Whatever you were thinking about, I'm sure you'd like to do it alone ." Thatch smirks. "I'm out of here."

"Ugh."

The rest of the work day passes rather quickly, with the interviews taking up a lot of his time, so that he does not get much time to think about tonight. And what Sabo has planned for them. Still, when he is able to catch his breath, he can't help but smile in anticipation as he realises, that it has been a while since he was this excited about a date.

***

  
As soon as Sabo gets ready, (after changing outfits four times) he gets his bag, ready to go. Luffy is in the living room, watching TV, and he looks up when Sabo passes by.

"Hey, I left your dinner in the fridge, you can just reheat it...don't burn the house down okay?" Sabo instructs him.

"Huh? Don't worry. I won't." Luffy promises. "You left some for Ace as well?"

"Umm...Ace is... he's coming home late today....so, he's gonna eat elsewhere." Sabo says, ears turning pink. He's not exactly lying, but he's not really sure if he should tell Luffy that he and Ace are trying something. 

It seems like Luffy doesn't pick up on his nervous state, only nodding. He blinks slightly. "Oh, Sabo, you look nice, are you going on a date?" He asks.

Well, he supposes telling him this much won't hurt. "Yeah, I'm a little nervous actually."

"Hmm, well, I think you look great. Good luck!" Luffy smiles and holds out his fist.

"Thanks." Sabo smiles back, and leaves with a fist bump.

~

Ace parks the car as soon as he gets to the location that Sabo sent him. It's a nice place in the middle of town called the Royal Arcade. It's not what Ace expected for their first date, but Sabo has always been full of surprises. Certainly, Ace thinks, when he sees Sabo waiting at the entrance, even though he's dressed casually today, it's clear he put some effort into his looks. It definitely paid off, in Ace's opinion. Not that Sabo ever needs to put any effort to look good.

Sabo spots him, and waves, face breaking into a smile. Ace wonders why he's never noticed what a pretty smile Sabo has. Is it because he was never really looking for it before? He walks up to him.

"Hey, sorry, did you wait long?" Ace asks.

Sabo shakes his head. "No, I just got here, come on, let's go inside."

The place seems to be winding down for the evening, as people trickle in and out of the building. 

"You know, I didn't expect you'd choose a place like this for a date." Ace says honestly, as Sabo leads him through the arcade.

"Oh?" He glances at him. "What did you think I'd have planned?"

"Well, a fancy dinner at some expensive-ass restaurant with overpriced wine and stuff, you know, where you gotta dress fancy and look the part." Ace shrugs.

Sabo can't help but let out a laugh in that moment, because, yes, that would be the kind of place he wanted to go for a first date. In fact, he had a hard time _not_ choosing that kind of place.

"Hmm, well, I thought this would be more comfortable for you, and I wanna do what makes you happy today." Sabo tells him.

Even though he already suspected that this was the reason that Sabo chose a chilled place like this, with zero pressure for him, Ace finds that it warms his heart that Sabo thought this far for him.

"Come on, we're here." Sabo leads him into a quiet bowling alley within the arcade. "There's lots of different things we could do here, so how about we play for a little while before we go eat?" He says it casually, nonchalantly like it's not a big deal, but Ace can tell that he's nervous, and it makes him want to put Sabo's heart at ease.

"Ah, bowling, I haven't done that in forever, but I'm sure I'll still beat you senseless. Don't cry, okay?"

"Hah! Bring it on, you're the one who's gonna cry after I get ten strikes." Sabo responds to the challenge. "I'll go rent some shoes for us. Choose us some cool names okay?"

~

Ace watches as Sabo gracefully lets the ball leave his hands. It starts  rolling on the lane, never curving until it takes down all the pins in one go. Again.

"That's crazy, how many strikes is that already? Five?" Ace asks as Sabo grins in celebration. 

"Six, actually. You're not doing too bad yourself, although I thought you'd be better at this than me."

"Yeah? Well, I'm making this next one my third strike. We have three more games left, I can still catch up to you." Ace steps up to the lane as well.

"Fat chance."

Unfortunately, Ace manages to pull off a seven ten split during his turn, and he is only able to get one spare on the second turn.

"Huh, I think this game is rigged." Ace says glaring at the one pin that remains standing. 

Sabo pats him mockingly on the shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll get a strike next time. You can do it."

"You're having fun aren't you? You're smiling and happy because it's the first time you've ever beaten me at anything." Ace tries to sound mad, but he can't help but smile himself either. Because yes, he is having fun, and he feels more relaxed than he's ever been before.

"That's preposterous. I've beaten you at lots of things." Sabo takes up his spot again, this time getting 8 pins down.

"Oh yeah, like what?" 

"Chess, bowling, studying-"

"Oh, you're working up quite a list, aren't you?" Ace raises his eyebrows as Sabo knocks down his two spares.

"Oh yeah, do you want me to go on? I have about uh, thirty more items to go through..."

And like that, with constant back and forth, they finish the game, Sabo  beating Ace, by a fair margin. Still Ace is far from bitter, though he pretends to be slightly discouraged as they go out to eat. In truth though, he is enjoying himself quite a lot, which is surprising considering how competitive he is.

***

  
Sabo wants to make a move.

Certainly, everything has been going well, and he is more than overjoyed about this, however, he is afraid that at this rate, nothing will change. It would be just like two friends hanging out, which is precisely what he is trying to move past. So, he just needs to muster up some courage and close the gap. He takes a deep breath. But he is still too nervous to move.

  
 This is ridiculous, Sabo just wants to hold his hand, so why are his fingers suddenly shaking? It's not like it would be the first time he ever touched Ace. They've sparred together, fought each other and made up multiple times, so why is it suddenly so hard to just reach out and touch that hand? Sabo takes a deep breath, and takes that hand in his own.

  
Ace turns and looks at him. He can feel that Sabo's hand is shaking in his. He looks at him. Sabo is looking down, as though afraid to see Ace's expression. A warm feeling courses through Ace's heart at the sight. This might be the first time that anyone has ever been this nervous to simply hold his hand. Is this what happens when someone is in love with you? This feeling burning inside his chest, he doesn't hate it, but at the same time, he fears it.

"Wow, I didn't know you could be cute..." Ace teases him.

"Sh-shut up... I'll just take my L peacefully." Sabo says, red in the face as he tries to retract his hand.

But Ace intertwines their fingers, and doesn't let go of his hand. He is not sure why he does it, only that this is what Sabo wants...and that he doesn't hate this childish feeling. He can't decide if it is a good thing or not. 

For Sabo the moment is perfect, and he feels afraid that after getting so close, Ace might slip right out of his fingers. It makes him want to cherish this moment as they walk to the small restaurant/bar in the bowling alley. They continue holding hands until they sit down to eat. It's a simple meal of pasta and chicken, with multiple servings for both of them. Sabo can't help but notice Ace's eyes following one of the waiters, a cute kid with a pretty smile. He frowns, and decides to draw his attention back to himself. 

"So, how did the interviews go?" Sabo asks, and Ace turns back to him.

"Hmm, oh, we got our guy. His name's Jesus Burgess, he's an ex con and a bit of a musclehead but he seems enthusiastic enough. I think he'll be a good addition to our team." Ace says.

"If you aren't too sure about him, I can have a background check done for you." Sabo offers, taking a sip of his drink.

"How would you- oh right, you have an in with the Dragon's nest. I don't know if I'm comfortable with Dragon digging into our employee's past." He frowns, biting into his food.

"I'm just saying, if you want an extra precaution. You know their data is always up to date, anyway, it won't be him looking, it would be me." Sabo points out.

"Nah, it's fine, Burgess seems to wanna turn his life around. You know how Pops would never turn anyone like that away." Ace looks up. "But thanks for offering anyway."

"Okay, if you're sure." He says. "Did you finally figure out why your firm is losing its smaller clients?"

"Not yet. We're not losing money, so it isn't a major problem, but still it is worrying because Pops likes us to be able to provide security at low cost to small business owners who can't afford the big security firms like ours."

It's strange, Ace thinks. Usually on the first date, he'd be trying to get to know the person, telling them about himself and trying to establish a connection. But no one knows him better than Sabo, so their conversation is normal, everyday things that the two of them would normally be talking about. Is this how dates are supposed to be? Or is it just this way because of Sabo? He finds it relaxing, and he is not as tense as he would usually be on first dates trying to get along with his date.

"Well, we're hard at work with it, so I'm sure we'll figure out a solution soon." Ace sighs, downing his drink.

"Well, I hope you solve it soon, then you can get those frown lines off your forehead. You shouldn't worry about work so much, take a breather like this with me once in a while." Sabo says.

"Ha.." Ace chuckles, "You think it's work that's been worrying me these past couple days? No way, the only thing taking up the biggest thinking space in my mind is you, idiot." 

It seems like Ace just says whatever is on his mind, whatever he feels, honestly without realising the effect his words would have on Sabo. Hearing that Ace has been thinking about him all this time, worrying about this date as well, it lights up a fire hope in Sabo's heart. 

"That's a good thing, right?" He asks anxiously. 

Is it? Ace looks up at him, having finally finished eating. "I don't know, Sabo. But I'm still here, I can honestly say that this is one of the best dates I've ever had. I'm having a great time with you..."

It's all true, but so is the fact that it he's not sure if it is a good thing or not. Pursuing this further, could be great, but what if things change, and something goes wrong? What if it doesn't work out? Would that mean he would lose Sabo's friendship as well? The thought scares him.

"Then, that means we can have another date, right?" Sabo asks hopefully. 

"Of course." Ace tries to brush the bad thoughts away. "Next time I'll take you to one of your extremely overpriced fancy dinner places."

"I look forward to it." Sabo smiles. He insists on paying for their meal, despite Ace's reluctance, and the two of them walk out the restaurant, and back into the arcade.

~

"What do you want to do now? Can we go home or should we hang around here for a little longer?" Sabo asks.

"Oh, the night is still young, we can play something else." Ace nods.

"You can try your luck at pool, who knows, maybe this time _I'll_ let you win." Sabo says with a smile.

"What? I didn't let you win before." Ace huffs, embarrassed.

"Sure, whatever you say." Sabo laughs. "Wait here for me, I'm going to the bathroom real quick."

"Okay." Ace says. Alone for a moment, hesitancy returns to Ace's heart. He can feel changes beginning to happen between him and Sabo. And it scares him how much he's looking forward to them because it just means that it will hurt more if things go wrong. What if Sabo leaves again? He doesn't know if he can bear it. _Maybe he should make a little space, put just a little bit more distance between him and Sabo...just to be safe._ Yeah, he'll do that.

Ace figets slightly,  and sits down, watching the players in the bowling alley. Two girls are playing in the lane in front of him, and one of them walks over to him.

"Excuse me, are you any good at bowling?" She asks. "I've only been getting gutter balls."

Ace looks up at her, "I'm average."

She smiles, and tilts her head back slightly, "You don't look like the kind of man who's average at anything." She says.

Ace blinks, and looks at her. She's pretty enough, certainly very well dressed in a way that shows off her body. She seems like a flirt, as if she's the kind who only wants to have fun, casual relationships. His type. 

No. His former type.

Still, she came all the way here, he can entertain her for a while.

"That's true." He says, "None of the men or women that I've been with have ever called me anything but excellent."

"Well then come on, show me how to play." Before he can react, she grabs his hand pulls him towards the lane, where her friend is waiting.

The girl holds the ball and bends down to throw, "Is my form okay?" She asks.

It's clearly some kind of invitation, so Ace places his hand on the girl's hips lightly and says to her, "You have to shift your weight to this side and that will make your throws much more powerful."

"Like this?" She moves her body slightly towards him.

"Yeah," he says with a smile.

"Thank you." She says "I'll try it now." She pushes back, and when she throws the ball, she manages to drop 6 pins.

  
"Well, look at that, it seems your body knows how to move, for you to be just a little bit above average too." Ace says raising his eyebrows. 

  
"I bet you say that to all the girls." She says in a low voice, moving even closer to him.

 Ace could step back, but he doesn't. "Not all of them, just a select few."

"I see." She says. "Give me your phone."

"Hmm, why?"

"Just give it,  I'll put my number in there you can come teach me anytime you -"

  
"Ace." An angry voice says from behind them. "What are you doing?"

  
"Ah, Sabo, I was just showing her how to-" Ace starts, but Sabo looks very angry.

"I can't believe you." Sabo turns away sharply, and walks towards the door.

"Hey Sabo,  wait!" Ace follows after him.

He stops abruptly outside the arcade, his back to Ace. "What were you doing just now?"

"I told you, I was just teaching her."

"You were flirting with her."

 _Distance_. Did Ace create too much? Is it better this way? "I..well, she just...she came on to me first. I thought, you know, it was rude to just let her be when she looks like that."  
What is he saying? That is not the problem right now, that is not what Sabo wants to hear.

"You're a fucking asshole, you know that?" Sabo turns to face him, and Ace realises that maybe he shouldn't have done it, that maybe he doesn't want to be the cause of such a look on Sabo's face. 

"I'm sorry Sabo, I swear I wasn't gonna do anything with her, I was just humouring her for a while. I was just passing the time." He tries to make it right.

"Flirting  with someone  while on a date with someone else is not passing the fucking time is it's rude and it's disrespectful!" Sabo starts walking away again.

"Wait, let's talk at home, hmm, you didn't bring a car right? I'll drive, come on." Ace tries to grab his arm but Sabo forcefully snatches it out of his grip.

"I'll use a taxi, thanks." he says and walks away again.

***

Sabo shuts himself in his workroom as soon as he gets home. Shit, what was he expecting from Ace tonight? What about all the time he spent agonising over where to go, what to do and what to wear? Did he seriously think that he would be different from any of Ace's other conquests? That's right, Ace has only been single for a few weeks, and in that time he hasn't slept out or brought anyone home, which is unlike him. Was Ace planning to use him as a rebound... no, that's not it. Sabo's sure that Ace wouldn't do that to him, so then what is the problem?

There is a sudden sound of heavy knocking on his door. "Sabo! Open up, come on!" Ace says.

He ignores it, and the knocking goes on for a few more minutes. It stops for a second, and Sabo thinks he hears Luffy's voice before Ace barks, "It's none of your concern, go back to sleep!"

Sabo stands up and opens the door, "Hey, don't shout at Lu-" But as soon as the door opens, Ace pushes his way inside and catches Sabo by surprise, kissing him all of a sudden. 

Recovering quickly from the surprise, Sabo pushes him away. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" He snaps.

"I don't know. It was all I could think to do in the moment." Ace looks down.

Sabo scoffs, "Ace are you playing with me? Now that you know how I feel, you think you can do whatever you want?"

"No, I swear that's not it. Look, I'm sorry about what happened tonight. This is new for me, okay, I'm not used to looking at only one person... it's a habit,,, give me a little time." Ace says.

"A habit? Really? A habit was in the restaurant, and in the arcade as well, I saw you checking out a couple of guys, that's a habit! But flirting? Come on, Ace, don't bullshit me."

"I said I'm sorry, what other reason could there be?" Of course there's another reason, and he's too afraid...again to admit it to himself, to admit it to Sabo. 

"I'll tell you. It's because it was going well. Isn't it? And you can't have good things Ace, because you're afraid of losing them." The way Sabo says it, makes Ace angry.

"Of course I am! If something goes wrong, you'll be the first to leave, won't you? Can you honestly say that you won't leave me behind again?" Ace fires back.

"Oh, so now it's my fault?"

"That's not what I'm saying." Ace says. Should he get closer or create more distance? Which would be better for Sabo in the long run? "Maybe we're just a mismatch. Me, who pushes away anyone who falls for me for fear of being abandoned and you, who runs away when things get hard. Do you really think that we can make this work?"

Sabo breathes, and moves closer to Ace, taking both of his hands in his own. "We can, Ace. Because I've always held back when it came to you, I used to think it would be fine to just look at you, as long as you gave me some attention now and then. But now that you've acknowledged my feelings, I've become greedier. I want all of your attention, I don't want you to look at anyone else. I want every bit of you for myself." Sabo steps closer to him. "I want everything, Ace."

Ace steps back, "In that case, you should have chosen someone who could give you everything...because I...I don't have much to give. And there are some things I can't..."

"Ace," Sabo looks down, talking quietly. "Do you want this? Do you want me, like this?"

It's a valid question, and Ace doesn't know what answer to give him. "I don't know, but I don't want to be apart from you."

"That's not good enough. For me to get through to you, you have to be willing to open up your heart a little. Don't be afraid." He whispers, and tries again to move closer to him.

"I..."

Sabo's hold on him tightens. "Ace, please."

"I..." Ace also takes a breath, which is really hard to do with Sabo's close proximity. "I will try. I'll do my best to break old habits, and I won't look at anyone else when I'm with you, so will you forgive me this time?" He asks, finally looking up into Sabo's eyes. A piercing blue stares back, and a slight smile paints that face.

"Just this once then. I won't forgive you next time." Sabo whispers, and finally lets go of Ace's hands, choosing instead, to touch his cheek and pull him closer again, for a kiss.

Sabo's lips may be showing desperation to Ace, because he doesn't know if he is setting himself up for a world of hurt or not, but for now, he will believe in Ace's promise. That's right, for now he will let himself get lost in this not-chaste-at-all kiss, because damn, Ace is a really good kisser. He can feel one of Ace's hands in his hair, the other hand finding it's way into his shirt, the heat of it touching Sabo's bare skin making him-

Sabo pulls away immediately and steps back. Phew, that was close. "Okay, we've made up, goodnight." He says.

"Huh?" Ace asks. "I thought that was going somewhere. Shouldn't we do more to celebrate making up?" This time it's Ace who attempts to come closer.

"No...no way. I'm not sleeping with you on the first date." Sabo refuses. 

"Second date?"

"Nope. No way, in fact... I'm not sleeping with you at all until after you fall in love with me." Sabo declares.

"Whoa, now hold on. Let's discuss this." Ace tries again. "I hear, that sex could certainly speed up the whole falling in love process."

"Nice try. Go. Good night." Sabo shoos him out the door.

"Oh come on-"

"Night-" Sabo says closing the door after him. Honestly, he even surprised himself with that refusal. After all, he's dreamt about it for years. But Sabo doesn't want to be just another notch in Ace's belt. He wants to be different from all the other people that Ace has slept with before. That's why he is willing to wait until Ace falls in love with him. 

Until Ace is completely his.

***

The next morning, Sabo wakes up early again to make breakfast. He is humming happily as he finishes dishing out the food to Ace and Luffy who are already in the kitchen, no doubt brought here by the smell of food.

"Sabo, you seem happy today. Did your date go well?" Luffy asks. 

"Uh huh, it went great❤." Sabo smiles, sitting down to eat,  across from Ace.

"Good for you... I hope all your other dates go just as well, so that you make great food for us like this every morning." Luffy says, his mouth full.

"I hope so too." Sabo says dreamily and glances at Ace.

"Hmm, I see someone is in a good mood, even though you literally left me hanging last night. Are you happy?" Ace asks in a somewhat cross voice.

"How's the food? Is it to your liking? Do you want more coffee?" Sabo asks him pleasantly. 

"Hmph." Is all that Ace says before handing his cup to Sabo, who promptly refills it.

"The food's great. But how come Ace has a bigger portion than me?" Luffy asks. 

"Oh, is that so?" Sabo looks up. He hadn't meant to show any favouritism. "I'll give you some of mine, here, you can-"

"No." Ace barks. "Let him eat, you've got enough Luffy. To each his own plate."

Luffy pouts, but Sabo can't help but grin again at Ace's intervention.

When Ace is finally done , Sabo gets up and carries his briefcase, "I'll walk you to your car." He says.

"Hmph. Do whatever you want." Ace mutters leaving. Luffy watches the two of them with a frown on his face, but doesn't say anything. 

***

The next week is busy for both of them, Ace with the handovers and supervising Burgess' training for the first few days, while Sabo is in middle of planning for the biggest fight scene in his manga, keeping himself shut up inside his workroom for days on end. Ace finds himself craving Sabo's attention again. 

One particular night, Ace passes a happy looking looking Thatch, just before he leaves work and goes out for drinks with Law at Makino's bar.

"And then? Did something good happen?"

"Oh yeah. An old friend reached out to me, wanting to reconnect." He smiled.

"Hmm, a girl?" Ace asks.

"Hah! Don't be silly. It's just someone I haven't seen in a while, I'm meeting him this weekend. I'm really glad that he reached out to me, you know." Thatch says.

"Alright, good luck reconnecting and whatever. I'm tired, I'm gonna go relax for the night." Ace yawns.

"You're going out for drinks while some of us are starting work. You're the worst!" Thatch calls after him, as Ace goes out to his car. He could really use a drink right now.

~

"I never thought I'd be saying this, but, congrats on escaping the single life." Law says clicking glasses with Ace.

"Thanks, but it's not like I'm getting married, you know." Ace shakes his head.

"Still, I'm proud if you for taking the first step."

Ace snorts, "Thanks mum."

"Hmm, so how is it going? Everything okay between you guys?"

"Yeah, everything's good. I mean, the changes in our relationship are subtle and slow, but maybe that's the best way to go about it, you know. In just this short time, I've gotten used to getting a goodbye kiss every morning, and I seem to always look forward to going home, and seeing him... I feel like if things don't work out between us, there will be no going back to what we were before, you know." Ace says slowly. 

Law watches him. "Well it's expected for you to have those worries and reservations given that the two of you have known each other since you were kids, he's important to you, so naturally you're afraid of losing him more than all the others." He says. "If you ask me, that just means that you should try harder to make this work."

"Tch, I thought you were a surgeon, since when were you a shrink?"

"Now that is one job I will never do. And don't you forget who renews your prescription every six months, Mister."

"And yet here you are again, giving free advice, aren't you just such a nice guy." Ace says accepting another beer from the bartender. She smiles at them, wishing them a nice evening. Ace resists the urge to compliment her on how nicely her uniform sits on her. Sabo probably wouldn't like it. In fact, he turns away from her quickly. "Man, this is not easy."

"Hmm? What is it?" Law asks when the girl leaves.

Ace sighs, "Oh nothing. I'm just being extra careful since I'm already in the doghouse with Sabo."

"What? Already? You've been together what, two weeks? Don't tell me you have cheated on him already?!"

"What no, who do you think I am? Geez. I just flirted with someone on our first date. He said he wouldnt forgive a  second time. That's why I'm being cautious now." Ace sighs. "But it's hard,  harder than I expected honestly."

"Well, that's to be expected. You've never been in a serious relationship before. It's gonna take time to keep your eyes focused." Law shrugs putting his glass down.

"Well, I bet it would be easier to bear it if he'd let me touch him for more than five minutes." Ace sighs.

"Wait, hold up, are you telling me the great Ace-sama is struggling to get someone in bed?" Law grins. "Are you going through a dry spell right now? Do you want me to help you?"

Ace crosses his arms and glares at him. "You're doing this on purpose aren't you? Because I told you I can't look at anyone else?"

Law's amusement does not cease. "What has that boy done to you? I can barely recognise you my friend."

Ace sighs again, and stands up. "I'm going home."

"Why? It's not like there's anyone waiting in your bed for you." Law can't stop himself from saying.

"I hate you."

***

At the end of the week, Ace, Sabo and Luffy go to the Barto Club to hang out and celebrate with Franky and Robin. Everyone is there, and as usual, their group is the loudest in the entire club. Sanji is trying to flirt with Nami, and as usual, she's using this to her advantage, Zoro is somehow already on his third beer, and Luffy, Ussop and Chopper are listening to some story that Brook is telling.

"Oh, man. I'm so happy that you guys finally set a date. I was beginning to get worried if the wedding would happen at all." Sabo says looking at the invitation card.

"Well, we wanted to find a time that suited both of us well enough that we could enjoy it without worrying about work. And of course, we wanted to save up money so I could have my dream wedding and honeymoon." Robin smiles.

"Damn, Franky, you're a lot more romantic than I thought!" Ace says raising his bottle to him.

"Of course, it's super important to keep my lady happy, you know." Franky grins. "You guys are all gonna come, right?"

"I see, you guys didn't pinch your pennies. A cruise wedding? Damn, that's gonna be so much fun, even though we have to buy our own tickets..." Nami grumbles. 

"Oh, Nami-swan, I'll buy a ticket for you to show you my love♡!" Sanji immediately offers.

"Oh really, then I'm looking forward to it." Nami smiles, and Sanji seems happy to have made her happy.

"You're too easy, pervert cook." Zoro tells him.

"Huh? What did you say, you bastard, can't you see how upset I am that Robin-chan is now out of my reach?" Sanji says sadly.

An argument between the two breaks out as usual, and Sabo looks at the invitation. In a month's time, Robin and Franky are finally getting married. It will be on a week long cruise, to Paris, then they will spend another week there for their honeymoon. It sounds like a dream wedding, and Sabo can't help but be a little envious of them, but they've definitely earned it.

"Well, congratulations guys. Let's have a toast to you." Koala says and everyone raises their glasses for the couple.

"Oh man, a whole week cruise! I'm so excited. I bet they will have all kinds of different foods too. Man I can't wait." Luffy beams.

"Yeah, I've never been to Paris before, but I heard it's a great place." Ussop agrees. 

"Uh huh, we'll visit some cool places and take lots of pictures, oh man I can't wait!" Luffy says happily.

"Yohohoho, I can't wait to perform at the wedding, I bet if I impress the female guests there, they'll be willing to show me their-" Brook starts with a dreamy look on his face.

"Huh, dream on, I'll have all the ladies there eating out of my hand." Sanji snaps at him. The noise escalates again as everyone starts talking at once, enjoying meeting together like this.

Again, Sabo looks at the invitation card, then at Ace, who is busy talking to Franky, and a part of Sabo feels a wish coming into his heart.

"Forget it." Koala says, standing in front of him. "Don't even think about it."

"I'm not thinking about anything except what kind of inspiration I'll get once we're in Paris." Sabo lies.

Koala looks at him sternly. "How long have I known you?" She asks, handing him the remainder of her beer. "Keep looking at him with those hopeful eyes and all the progress you two have made in the past week will disappear. You'll scare him off you know."

"Hmph." Sabo takes a swig from  the bottle. "It's not like that I'm happy with the way things are. I don't expect any more than that."

"Yeah? Keep telling yourself that...the way you look at him now is different than before. You've gotten worse at hiding your feelings... See?" Koala shakes her head when Sabo smiles as Ace comes back to sit next to him.

"You okay? You've got a wishful look on your face. You want another drink?" Ace asks, putting an arm around Sabo's shoulder. Koala gives him a smug, 'what-did-I-just-say' look.

 

Luffy looks up at the two of them from the other side of the table where he's sitting with Chopper. "Oh, I forgot to ask the other time, but Ace, are you and Sabo dating now?" Luffy asks loudly,  in the middle of chewing something.

Before Sabo can process the question, Ace answers, "Yes, we are."

Sabo chokes on his drink.

"Oh, congratulations to you guys." Luffy smiles.

Surprise is evident on everybody's faces, as Ace rubs Sabo's back as he coughs. "Are you okay?"

"Of course I'm not... you just said... You just... to everyone..." Sabo chokes.

Ace smiles, "I didn't lie, we are dating aren't we?"

Ace's smile, the feel of Ace's hands on his back... the warmth of them, coupled with the smiling faces of their friends watching them in this moment makes Sabo redden with both embarrassment and happiness.

"Yeah, but I didn't think you'd be so willing to reveal it to everyone like this." Sabo mutters.

"Well, it's you, there's no one in the world who wouldn't want people to know that you were theirs, is there?" Ace asks, as if it is a normal thing to say. Sabo is speechless and he wants to crawl and disappear from everyone's gazes.

"Ha! About time! This guy's been pining after you for I don't know how long." Nami snorts. 

"Huh? You knew?" Ace asks.

Robin nods, and Nami says, "Of course I did. Anyone with half a brain could tell-" But then she looks at all the surprised faces around her, except for Robin and Koala. She sighs, "I'm surrounded by idiots."

"Wow! Congrats guys!" Chopper is the first to recover. 

"Uh, thanks." Sabo says, still embarrassed. Everybody else congratulats them as well, and he can't help but smile again in embarrassment. 

"Ace?" Koala says poking him on the shoulder. "Come with me, let's get tequila shots for everyone to celebrate."

"Huh, why me of all-"

"Come on." She drags him away, to the bar.

While they are waiting for the bartender, Koala turns to him, and says. "Listen, next to you, I'm the closest person to Sabo. I know better than you how much he's wanted this, so don't hurt him, okay?"

Ace blinks, and scratches his head. So that's why she wanted to talk to him. "I won't. You don't have to worry about that."

"But I do. Don't think I haven't noticed your eyes looking around. You are good at catching yourself before he does though." She says, accepting their drinks from the bartender. "If you break Sabo's heart, I will destroy you."

"There's no need to threaten me. I know." Ace looks down.

"No you don't. If you make him cry, I will castrate you and post the pictures on my blog. You won't be able to walk outside again, okay?" She smiles, and pats him on the shoulder before walking off.

The oddly specific threat sends chills through Ace's spine. He must not forget that despite being a reporter, she also works for Dragon, so the threat could become true. 

"Why do you look scared?" Sabo asks Ace when he returns to the table. He takes a shot of tequila. 

"Your best friend is scary." Is all he says.

"Koala? She's a sweetheart. Why? Did she threaten you?" Sabo laughs.

"Uh huh." Ace says.

"So, how long have you guys been together?" Robin asks, and Sabo turns to talk to her.

The rest of the night is a good one, talking and celebrating with their friends, (although Ace does keep a bit of distance from Koala), they don't get to do this as often as they would like on happy occasions. Ace slows down a little on the drinks, he doesn't want to get drunk, as he hopes to spend some alone time with Sabo tonight. Even though he knows Sabo is happy for Franky and Robin, it probably brings out some concerns to him about Ace. 

Ace is fine, happy with his friends getting married, but that kind of thing is not for him. He does not like making that kind of commitment to anything, he hates any kind of pressure. Sabo knows this, and Ace suddenly finds himself sorry that Sabo likes someone like him, with that kind of mentality. He sighs, he doesn't want to think about this now, he likes things the way that they are.

Ace takes his last shot, and glances at the dance floor. A young man catches his eye, dancing sensually there at the center. Ace recognises him, and ex? That's right, he remembers the guy, he'd approached him because he was pretty, and with his dancing, he'd figured his body would be fun to mess around with, Ace smiles remembering it, yeah, it certainly was-

Ace feels a jolt as he senses a pair of cold blue eyes watching him, and he turns to find Sabo looking pissed. Shit. He did it again. He looked at someone else, even after promising Sabo he wouldn't. Why does he never think first?

Sabo stands up, and gets his coat. 

"Oh? Are you leaving already?" Franky asks.

"Yeah, it's late, I gotta wake up early tomorrow, I've got a lot of work to do." Sabo says with a smile. He's good at pretending. "Sorry guys."

"Yeah, I'm gonna go too. See you around guys." Ace stands up to follow him.

"Huh? Should I not come home tonight?" Luffy asks thoughtfully. 

Ace grits his teeth, "Whatever you're thinking that's not it, geeze!"  He says, "Don't stay out too late."

Ace waves and rushes out after Sabo. He thinks he hears Robin smile and say, "Those two are so cute."

 

Sabo is standing outside, leaning on the wall of the club, as if waiting for him. Ace is apprehensive, as he walks up to Sabo. He messed up again. Sabo said he wouldnt forgive a second time, so is this it? Is this how far they come? Ace doesn't want it to end. Not yet, he thought he knew Sabo, but with all the recent changes, he finds himself learning a lot more things about him that he'd never thought about. Like how sunny his smile makes the world look, or how easily he blushes when he's happy or how he misses him when he gets lost in his art, not coming out of his workroom for days. Or he sheepishly accepts it when Ace yells at him not to work too hard and take care of himself. 

Ace really doesn't want it to end.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that, I really wanted to keep my promise to you." Ace blurts out.

Sabo looks at him, he doesn't look angry, or too hurt either. "You know I told myself I'd give you a little leeway, be more understanding, because I know this is new to you, but... honestly, when I see your eyes wander, it makes me really angry, even though I tell myself I shouldn't be."

"Sabo... I... okay, I understand if you wanna end everything now. I'm really... not exactly what you ordered, huh..." Ace looks down.

"I'm not ending anything Ace. You're not the only one adjusting to change. I keep telling myself I don't expect anything from you, but honestly, I have so many wishes and dreams about us... how could I not have expectations?"

"Sabo..."

"I guess we both still have a lot to learn about relationships, about each other and about ourselves." Sabo smiles. "As long as we learn together, grow together... I feel like our relationship will progress naturally and we will be happy together, don't you think?"

'Sabo, you're amazing.' Ace thinks.

Ace hesitates for a second, but then he pulls Sabo closer to him, by his hand, and kisses him. It's different from the last time, this is no longer just an experiment, to see how it will make him feel. This time it is because of who Sabo is, how understanding and mature he is about everything. Ace is glad that he chose Sabo to help him experience what first love feels like. So it is a kiss of gratitude, but also something else that Ace can't fathom yet, but it fills his body with more heat than he was born with. It makes him feel like he wants more, especially when he sees Sabo's surprised but happy face at the fact that he initiated a kiss.

"What... what was that for?" Sabo asks.

"Hmph. Am I not allowed to kiss you? I'm your boyfriend after all." Ace says with a smirk.

The emphasis on the word boyfriend is too much for Sabo's heart. Because this is a dream come true for him, and even now he can scarcely believe that it's real. He's happy and scared at the same time, of losing something so good.

Sabo's face turns bright red at Ace's words. It's strange, seeing the effect his words have on him, only makes Ace want to tease him even more. He has known Sabo for many years, but he just now realises that there are so many expressions that he's never seen on Sabo's face. He wants to see them all, to see the different kinds of faces he can bring out from Sabo.

"Sabo," Ace says quietly. "I'm really glad that it's you."

"What do you mean?" Sabo looks up.

"Nothing, let's go home." Ace says, taking his hand.

***

Sabo lies down on his bed wearily, thinking about weddings. He's happy for Franky and Robin of course, and he can't wait to celebrate with them, but it makes him think about his own future. Ever since he was a child, he was taught by his parents to aspire to marriage, to marry into a girl from a wealthier family to raise the family name. But after he was liberated from them, after he knew it within himself that there was no way he'd be marrying any girl, all he wanted was to find a love that he could hold on to and treasure for all his days, a wedding where all his friends  celebrate with him sound absolutely amazing. Perhaps, he thinks, since things are going okay with Ace...maybe someday, if Ace opens up his heart to him, maybe... No, that's just wishful thinking, Ace is not into any of this, and anyway, it is way too early for him to be thinking about-

Sabo's thoughts are interrupted when his door opens, and someone comes inside. Sabo sits up, turns on his bedside lamp, and, to his surprise, Ace comes in, and lies down on his bed. He looks sleepy.

"Hey, what are you...?"

"I'm cold. My heater's broken. Let me sleep here." Ace says, getting into the blankets. 

"Wait," Sabo says, panicking slightly. "I told you we can't-"

"I promise I won't do anything, so let's just sleep okay?" 

The bed's gotten warmer, and the image of Ace in his bed is not just something in Sabo's head anymore. Through the dim lighting of the lamp, he can see that Ace's dark eyes are looking at him pleadingly from his bed. It's a little intoxicating. 

"That's not what I'm afraid of, at this rate, I might do something." Sabo mutters, and turns off the light, lying back down on the bed.

Sabo's heart is beating faster than it should, and he's thinking that if he can't see Ace in the dark, it will be easier, but somehow he can still feel him there, can smell his scent so close to him, making it harder to breathe. Ace isn't trying anything, so Sabo guesses that he's already taken his medication, and will be falling asleep anytime. Good for him.

"Sabo..." Ace says quietly. "Can I hold you?"

Without waiting for an answer, he feels Ace's arms wrap around his waist as Ace moves closer to him. He is sleeping facing away from him, so he can feel Ace's whole body leaning on his back. If he thought it was difficult to breathe before, now he's really gonna die from the heat and the feel from Ace's closeness that is driving him insane in this moment. 

"You wanna kill me don't you?" Sabo cries.

"It's your fault, you should let me touch you more." Ace yawns, his voice sounding sleepy. Well, at least one of them is gonna get some sleep tonight. "Hey...Sabo... you were thinking about useless things, weren't you?"

"What?"

"What Robin and Franky have... you want something like that, don't you? Marriage, family, a love that lasts a lifetime..." Ace asks. "Are you worried because I can't give you that?"

Sabo can feel Ace's breath on his back. Did Ace come here to comfort him because he knew what he would be thinking about? "Ace..."

"I'm sorry." Ace holds him tighter, "If you'd fallen in love with someone else, you could have had those things, but since it's me, I can't-"

"It doesn't matter." Sabo cuts him off. "More than all those things, I want you. If I have you, none of that matters. You're all I need." No, did Ace rather come here to be comforted, because he can't give Sabo what he wants? He can feel Ace smiling behind him, but Sabo doesn't turn around, he's afraid of what might happen already.

"I'm glad. Ill make it up to you, I promise. I hope I'm worth it." He sounds more relaxed now. After that Ace's breathing steadies, and his body feels less tense.

"Ace... your heater is not broken, is it?"

"No."

"Your bed's bigger. Next time, I'll come over." Sabo says,quietly. 

"I can't wait." Ace smiles. He falls asleep shortly after that, but Sabo lies,awake a little longer, comforted by Ace's presence.

~

"Ace... hey... wake up." Sabo shakes him awake in the early hours of the next morning.

"Hmm, what is it...morning already?" Ace mutters sleepily. 

"No, it's your phone... It's Marco, he says it's urgent." Sabo says handing the phone to him.

His eyes flutter open as he tries to think clearly, still under the effects of the sleeping tablets that he took last night.

"Hello?"

"Ace, I need you to come to the office as soon as you can, there's a major problem. Arlubana Bank was broken into last night. It's chaos over here." Marco says immediately. 

Ace sits up straight. Arlubana Bank is the biggest client that Whitebeard Security has. Who would be stupid enough to break in there? "But nothing happened right? Our response time is always good, Thatch is always especially careful with our major clients, especially at night so-"

"That's the other problem. He wasn't able to send in the response team on time. Ace, Thatch is in the hospital right now. There was an accident....no, an incident rather." Marco explains.

Ace feels dread and worry coming up on him, and Sabo watches in concern as Ace's face falls and he looks panicky. "What do you mean an incident? Is he okay?"

"Look Ace, it's a long story, I need to get to the bottom of everything as soon as possible. With both me and Thatch out, I'll leave you in charge of investigating the matter at the bank. I have to go go to the hospital, Thatch is in critical condition right now."

***


End file.
